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Scotch whisky
industry now in a “Golden Age”, says BenRiach’s Billy Walker
Billy
Walker, the scotch whisky veteran who
resurrected the fortunes of BenRiach and
GlenDronach, believes the industry has
entered "a golden age".
Mr Walker, who next week is going out to
Mongolia to do tastings as part of a
trade mission, is upbeat about the
prospects for the industry.
"We really are in an extraordinary
period which can definitely be
classified as "a golden age". The
amazing thing about scotch whisky is
that this little country of some 5.2m
people has successfully secured the
position of making scotch whisky the
absolute international drink of choice.
140 million cases were exported
worldwide in the last twelve months and
exports generated over £4 billion for
the UK balance of trade.
"But in many ways in the UK we have
become obsessed with our own economic
situation and we perceive the world to
be the same. Yet, for whisky, the core
markets were never really that depressed
in spite of the economic indicators. And
the truth is that, east of Beirut, the
world is booming.
"Emerging markets like China and India
haven’t got anywhere near where they
will be yet. Mongolia where I’ll be next
week is absolutely in its infancy but
there will be opportunities, as there
are with places like Kazakhstan and
Azerbaijan. Add onto that Russia where
the rouble has recovered and which is
having a boom time just now. South
America is clearly enjoying significant
economic advantages as well. Mexico has
become a big big market for Scotch, and
you’ve got untapped Africa waiting in
the wings.
"That’s why the industry has to believe
the data and forecasts feeding into
these markets. It’s very encouraging but
we’re only scraping the surface. So from
an operational production point of view,
the industry has to provide for this
demand which will be for twelve years
out. If you add them up, the total is
greater than the sum of the parts,
that’s for sure.
"That’s why we’re in this golden period
which I believe will endure for quite
some time. We don’t have the same
industry shape that we had in the past;
we’ve had so much consolidation and as a
result it appears to me there are no
weak players in the industry. In my
opinion, that forms the fundamentals of
a solid future."
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