I was at a social gathering recently and found myself amongst a circle of newly-made acquaintances whom I was introduced to just five minutes earlier. In the course of our social dialogue and etiquette-driven pleasantries (relax, this isn’t a Jane Austen novel), the fact that I was an avid whisky enthusiast and involved in its industry came up. “Oh, what’s your favourite whisky?” was the question immediately thrown at me. I’ve been asked that more times than I can possibly remember, and I have my standard answer always queued at the ready, but I reflected on the way home later that evening that it’s an increasingly irrelevant question.
Ask yourself that same question and try and answer it honestly: What is your favourite whisky? I’m willing to bet that the first response that came into your head was “It depends!”. Or you picked out a dram that was bottled or discontinued years ago and is no longer available.
I posit that it’s an outdated proposition. Up until a few decades ago, the question had relevancy because (i) there was a significantly smaller range of options to choose from, and (ii) brand loyalty was a much stronger notion for the demographic and consumers of those times. We’ve all heard the stories about the uncle who “only drank Talisker” or the grandfather who “would only pour himself a Dewars”.
I remember walking into the best-stocked liquor outlets in the early 1990’s, and the retail outlets with the biggest ranges might have had a mere 10 different single malts to select from. (Remember, this was Australia, not Edinburgh!) Three or four of these were excellent whiskies; six or seven of them were…well…nice without being exceptional. In those times and with such limited choice, it was a plausible notion to have a favourite whisky. Compare that to today – even the most humble supermarket outlet has a decent selection of malts and, of course, the bigger or speciality stores will boast upwards of one hundred different malts and more…and plenty of them are excellent. It’s led to us all having “many favourites”.
One of the biggest catalysts and drivers of Scotch whisky’s current boom and popularity is that it is being sold and marketed differently now, and it has appeal, currency, and patronage amongst a much younger generation. Yes, the Gen Y / Millennials. And this is a generation that advocates and espouses diversity and a multi-experiential lifestyle: Why commit to or limit yourself to one whisky when there are hundreds of others to try and enjoy? This same philosophy – which comes in hand in hand with a “been there, done that” mentality – drives a demand for the new. In the world of whisky bottlings and releases, nothing stays static or constant for too long.
No blend or distillery with its own single malt brand survives these days with only a 12yo being the sole and constant expression in the portfolio. Instead, all of the major brands and distilleries regularly bring out new expressions and limited releases; they frequently change their packaging or give the brand a “refresh”; they expand their core range – all to fulfil the current market’s insatiable thirst for something new and different. There’s a good chance your favourite whisky this month will not be your favourite whisky next month.
It is this same quest for diversity that has driven and grown two very specific sectors of the industry: Firstly, the number of independent bottlers and single cask bottlings has exploded as people seek out and discover the individual variances amongst lone casks. The second sector to see growth in diversification has been amongst the blends. As a simple example, check out how many different expressions and limited editions Johnnie Walker has released in the last 18 months alone.
For my own personal journey, it was the exploration of single casks – courtesy of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society – that was instrumental in teaching me that you can have many favourites: A favourite distillery for peated whisky; a favourite distillery for sherried casks; a favourite distillery amongst the floral, fruity Speysiders and so on. Or, perhaps more universally amongst whisky drinkers, you might have a particular style or preferred type of whisky to suit each mood. There’s the style of whisky you turn to on a hot summer’s day; the specific dram for the fireside in winter; and then the whisky you pour yourself when you’ve come home at the end of a long day and need a pick-me-up.
Yes, I do have a favourite distillery, but that’s as much to do with its individual history, its story, the people who run it, and their philosophy as it is to do with how much I adore the whisky they produce. But you can’t give that complex answer in five seconds at your next social gathering. So what’s my favourite whisky? Whichever one you’re buying me.
Cheers,
AD
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