Scotch Isn't on the Rocks

According to Craig Robertson Scotch isn't on the rocks. He admits 2007 was an exceptionally good year for whisky and 2008 wasn't far behind, but industry expert Alan Gray says the depressing turnaround is firmly down to the global recession and that the underlying future for Scotch remains bright.

Alan, a whisky analyst at brokers Sutherlands of Edinburgh and author of the Scotch Whisky Review, is confident the Diegeo and Whyte & Mackay job losses, although devastating, are not a taste of things to come.

"The years from 2005 saw tremendous growth, an average of 6% a year compared with a norm of 1.5% and there was always likely to be a wee bit of reaction to that. Then the recession kicked in. The first quarter of this year saw exports down 18.8%, however in April and May they were down just 9.9%."

By its very nature, making whisky is a long-term business. A bottle produced today cannot be drunk for a minimum of three years and more likely nearer 10 if it's a single malt. Distillers are bound to think ahead.

Alan Gray has some wise words for Diageo.

"They're making cuts when they don't absolutely have to. I think it's the wrong thing to do. I believe there's a strong case for keeping Johnnie Walker open."

"From a heritage point of view they should be doing more with Johnnie Walker. They have a small visitor centre at Cardhu but it's a long way from anywhere. They should have a heritage home in Kilmarnock, really play up the link with the world's top-selling whisky."

"There are 195 million bottles of Johnnie Walker sold a year. That's a lot of whisky and lots of potential visitors. With an archive and a bottling plant where people could see Johnnie Walker or another whisky being bottled, they would be on to a winner."

Some very sensible and free advice from Alan Gray there. Are you listening Diageo?

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Jim Murphy - Working for Scotland?

The Secretary of State for Scotland has been found wanting according to the Herald.  Last year there was a crisis over the duty hike in whisky and no action or intervention was made by Mr Murphy.

Angus Robertson MP, through the FOI process, said Mr Murphy's inaction at a time of crisis for a major Scottish industry destroyed the myth of his as a "hyper-energetic" Scottish secretary. "This correspondence shows that the Scotland Office was not involved in the run-up to the highest increase in duty ever planned."

Mr Robertson's first FOI application was knocked back as being against the public interest but he made a follow-up request simply asking whether any meetings had taken place.  The reply stated that there was no record of any meeting with industry representatives.

Mr Robertson continued:

"We are told that the Scotland Office performs a vital function within Whitehall in standing up for Scottish interests and liaising with other Whitehall departments. We also have a hyper-energetic Secretary of State for Scotland with a high regard for his own ability.

"This is the first really concrete example of the gap between the rhetoric and the PR with the reality of what the Scotland Office or the Secretary of State actually do, especially with their burgeoning workforce and budget."

Of course a spokesman for Mr Murphy's department accused the SNP of "any number of distortions."  So now we know how hard Mr Murphy works for Scotland.

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