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SCOTCH REPORT Highland Fling I Single malt sales are up, thanks to superb products like The Nectar d’Or from Glenmorangie, extra-matured in Sauternes casks. Glenmorangie was awarded Distillery of the Year at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and is imported by Moët-Hennessy USA. SOARAWAY SINGLE MALTS BEAT THE BLUES IN SCOTLAND by Ian Buxton n previous issues, I’ve looked at individual brands, but how is scotch as a whole performing in the U.S? Faced with some of the toughest trading conditions in years, what’s become of the men in kilts? Data is available courtesy of both the Distilled Spirits Council of the Unite State (DISCUS) and the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), and it tells a fascinating story—showing both the slippage in the market and something of a more recent recovery. Recent figures from DISCUS (available at www.discus.org) show overall Scotch volume falling back to less than 2002 levels, but an increasing concentra- tion on upscale expressions. High-end premium and super-premium styles have both proved relatively robust. Though some years’ growth has been wiped out, the trend has been to higher value. In fact, according to DISCUS, single malt sales, generally in the upper-priced categories, performed well, up from 755,000 9-liter cases in 2002 to 1,147,000 cases in 2009, with steady growth across the whole period. While total scotch slipped 0.8% in that time, single malt volumes are up a healthy 51.9%. Little wonder that the folks at the SWA are surprisingly cheerful. Their The immediate trend is positive, after two years of depressing news.” latest statistics also tell a more upbeat tale: Export values bounced back at the end of 2009 to increase 13% to £419 million (approx $630 million, prior to taxes). According to their spokesman, “That equals the highest previous shipment value level, achieved in 2007.” Within that, as the DISCUS numbers would suggest, single malt shipments are buoyant, topping the $150 million mark for the first time, and the overall move to higher value expressions is reflected in a 17% growth in bottled blended scotch, against 13% overall. Given DISCUS recorded a market drop to 9.028 million cases, the SWA account of shipment volumes jumping back 12% to 9.34 million cases after drops in both 2007 and 2008 has explained some glee in the glens. It looks as if inventories, savaged over the past two years, are being rebuilt as confidence returns throughout the distribution chain. That was most marked in bottled blended scotch, still the mainstay of the market, where shipments rebounded 24% to 6.3 million 9-liter cases. The immediate trend is positive, after two years of depressing news, though this isn’t quite Whisky Galore yet. It remains to be seen if this recovery will be sustained, but there’s a quiet confidence once again among the distillers that bodes well for the future. 24 / the tasting panel / may 2010