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Being sold by the Swedish alcohol
monopoly,
Oddbins and Carrefour has
boosted the sales of GlenDronach’s new
core range in the first twelve months,
it announced today.
Since being launched last spring, the
Aberdeenshire distillery’s new range of
single malts has sold some 25,000 cases
worldwide, yielding extra sales of some
£2.4 million.
Regional Sales Director Alistair Walker
said: “When we launched the range last
year, we promised our customers “A
Journey of Re-Discovery”. From the
terrific sales we’ve generated, it’s
clear they're thoroughly enjoying their
journey!”
Established in 1826, the GlenDronach
Distillery at Forgue is famous for
producing richly-sherried single malt
whiskies. This time last year saw the
re-launch of the already popular 12
year-old Original as well as the return
of the iconic older expressions - the
GlenDronach 15 and 18 year-olds, now
under the new names of Revival and
Allardice respectively.
Alistair said GlenDronach has acquired a
strong new following in a number of
markets including the USA, France,
Belgium, Scandinavia and Taiwan.
“Sweden is now one of our most
prosperous markets, and it's partly due
to the GlenDronach 15 year-old
(‘Revival’) being listed by
Systembolaget, the Swedish alcohol
retail monopoly.”
He explained: “Systembolaget’s product
range is very comprehensive and,
significantly, is developed continuously
to match changes in trends and in
consumers' tastes.
“To be accepted by the monopoly is a
real feather in our cap, as it shows
they see us as one of Scotland’s
outstanding malt whiskies. It also
provides the GlenDronach 15 year-old
expression with national distribution in
a country that is home to many of the
most passionate malt enthusiasts in the
world.
“And looking at the UK market, we’re
also delighted to be on sale in
Oddbins
now, again with GlenDronach 15 year-old
as well as a couple of expressions from
BenRiach, our other distillery. That
development shows that persistence pays
– they’ve been on our radar for a number
of years and now we’re available
in-store and online.
“In fact Revival is one of our star
performers in the last twelve months.
It’s a classic GlenDronach, a very
dynamic and full-bodied dram. It has all
the characteristics you would expect
from really good Oloroso sherry casks –
dark chocolate, raisins, coffee and
orange notes.”
In addition to Sweden and the UK, the
distillery recently made some
significant advances in France, having
developed an exclusive GlenDronach
expression called ‘Octarine’ (‘the
colour of magic’) for multiple retailer
Carrefour.
Regional Sales Director James Cowan
commented: “Together with our French
agents, La Maison du Whisky, Octarine
has been developed as an exclusive
regional listing within the
world-renowned Carrefour Group. We see
this as a significant milestone in the
ongoing re-launch of the GlenDronach
brand.
“Globally, the brand growth is still in
its early phase but this major retailer
has clearly seen the unique selling
points and fine brand heritage that
GlenDronach has to offer. This will
undoubtedly pave the way for bigger and
better things in the months to come.
“The Octarine project was made feasible
through rigorous and exacting cask
selection drawn from the diverse
inventory carried on-site at the
distillery. We are excited and eager to
continue our portfolio development which
will appeal to our growing client base.”
The team at GlenDronach sees 2010 as
another big year for the brand, as
Alistair explained: “Each year
represents an important step in
re-establishing the GlenDronach brand.
In 2008 we took over the distillery and
started to get to grips with the stock
and the distillery production.”
“In 2009 we enhanced the core range,
revising the12 year-old and introducing
the 15 and 18 year-old expressions. We
also released our first batch of single
casks bottlings, to much excitement, as
these had been few and far between under
previous regimes."
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