A Scot on Scotch

WHISKY REVIEWS, NEWS, HISTORY & FOLKLORE

Another funny old year…

A Scot on Scotch sees out the year with a dram of the Ardnahoe Society 2024 release but first, some thoughts on the current state of the whisky scene…

2024 has been a tough year for the whisky industry. Sales are down and distillers, blenders and bottlers are starting to feel the pinch.

In Wales, Penderyn paused production at their Swansea distillery. In Sweden, Mackmyra filed for bankruptcy and in Ireland, Mark Reynier’s Waterford project has appointed receivers. Closer to home, Elixir Distillers’ Islay project ground to a halt when the construction company collapsed and independent bottler, The Single Cask, raised a few eyebrows when they thanked their marketing team for all their hard work – before severing ties with them.

Elsewhere, Edrington off-loaded the ever-popular Famous Grouse to Wm Grant & Sons and seemingly out of nowhere, Campari bought their way into CVH, the company that owns Bunnahabhain, Tobermory and Deanston. All of these events are unrelated but together they paint a picture of a highly dynamic, even volatile, situation.

Look towards the countless online whisky auctions and you’ll find significantly reduced hammer prices. Check out Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange and you’ll encounter special offers and flash sales, the likes of which haven’t been seen in the whisky world for more than a decade.

Industry giant, Diageo, has almost been running a fire sale on Amazon with both Lagavulin and Talisker Distiller’s Editions reduced (for a short time) to £32, down from £94 and £67 respectively. For Black Friday, the Lagavulin 12-year-old Cask Strength (RRP £142) was dropped to £50. At the time of writing, Bruichladdich are advertising on Social Media that their Classic Laddie is available for just £35 with a Tesco Clubcard. Who expected to see the non-chill-filtered, natural colour, 50% abv, Bruichladdich actively chasing supermarket sales this festive season?

It’s hard to know what to make of all this. On the one hand, we whisky lovers have been used and abused for years now. Prices have climbed and doubled and climbed again and, for the most part, we’ve gone with it. Perhaps not always happily, but we’ve continued to support the distilleries and the brands and the indie bottlers we love, even as prices spiralled further and further out of control. Who could blame us for filling our boots when the flash sales and special offers pop up?

On the other hand, look a bit deeper and you’ll see that it’s the big companies that are dropping their prices, and they’re doing it with big retailers. Is that who we want to support? How do such price drops affect those small companies we’ve invested so much in? How does your local whisky shop compete with Amazon’s discounts? How does a family-owned independent bottler with a warehouse full of casks bought on last year’s prices make a profit on next year’s expectations?

Signatory’s decision to release their Speyside (M) – a 13-year-old Macallan – at a very reasonable price was a big hit with buyers but it upset at least one other bottler who saw little benefit in the triggering of a race to the bottom. Great for the buyer, not for the business.

I also find myself wondering how long the new breed of distilleries will be able to charge upwards of £60 for their 3-year-old spirit if Diageo’s plummeting prices continue? There will always be those of us who seek out the new and the interesting but will the casual shopper take a punt on a new brand when you can wait for a sale and buy Lagavulin for £30? Sure, these were special offers to offload stock in the Christmas rush but what if sales don’t pick back up in the first half of ’25? Does the “craft” distillery business model allow for a drop in price, or worse, a drop in demand? How long until we see a Scottish distillery in the same situation as Penderyn. Mackmyra or Waterford?

At the other end of the scale, there’s Edrington and the decision to sell The Famous Grouse (thereby severing the company’s last tie with the everyday drinker). They must surely know what they’re doing but it seems an odd time to put all your eggs in the premium basket. Lowering auction sales suggest the buy-to-flip market is dying – if not dead. That, in turn, suggests that people who once paid ridiculous sums on the secondary market for so-called collectibles are either feeling the pinch themselves or have moved onto the next fad. If either of those prove to be the case, who’s buying all the luxury, premium whisky going forward?

I wish I could offer an answer to these questions but I am but an intrigued bystander, watching with curiosity as the whisky industry continues to make some puzzling, if not baffling, decisions at what is surely the most tumultuous time in its recent history. Certainly the industry itself seems convinced that this is a short term blip rather than a longer term trend. Let’s hope they’re right. You can’t help but wonder how the looming shadow of a renewed Atlantic trade war with Trump’s USA will impact that hopeful forecast.

For our part – that is, we the whisky buyer – perhaps we should be increasingly conscious of where and how we spend our money. I’m not going to lecture anyone about the evils of grabbing a deal on Amazon, I’d be a bloody hypocrite for starters and we all deserve a bargain or two given how much of our hard-earned cash we’ve sank in whisky over the years but remember to spread the love. Don’t forget the independent whisky shops that have given us so much over the years and don’t forget the family-owned indie bottlers or the new, small distilleries. For their part, they mustn’t forget to offer their customers quality – give them value for money and they’ll come back, time and time again.

I’ve long advocated for more sensible pricing in the whisky world. RRP’s have, for want of a more polite expression, been taking the piss for years now and something of a reset has long been overdue but I’d hate to see anyone out of business as a result.

2025 could easily be another rocky year and it will be very interesting to revisit this topic in 12 months time. Wouldn’t it be lovely if a little balance could be found though? Imagine a world where distilleries, bottlers and retailers thrive yet whilst at the same time, consumers don’t feel like they’re being fleeced? That, surely, must be the goal.

Ardnahoe Society 2024 Review

I like to end each year by reviewing something special. A dram that’s stood out from the rest. Something celebratory and befitting of an occasion like Hogmanay. In all honesty, however, I haven’t actually tried this release yet. Well, that’s not strictly true, I sampled it at Glasgow’s Whisky Festival in November but while I certainly enjoyed it, the festival atmosphere is hardly suited to analysis.

I’ve gone for the first Society release from Ardnahoe. This Islay distillery has dominated my personal whisky radar over the last 12 months. The malt launched back in March with the Inaugural Release before following with a Fèis bottling and then came Infinite Loch, the first of the core range. Rounding off an impressive year comes the first Society Release, fully matured in ex-oloroso and PX quarter casks. It’s bottled at a full cask strength of 58.1%…

Tasting notes: The glass is full of lovely aromas of sherry and peat smoke. The fortififed wine manifests in notes of dried fruits, runny honey, cinnamon, clove and biscoti whilst the peat presents dry, ashy smoke and a blast of the sea with sea shells and a touch of brine. The palate starts out in a similar vein with sherry leading the way through raisins and honey and warming winter spices. Then comes a blast of spicy black pepper and coastal, slightly medicinal smoke. The peat feels subtle at first – it really eases its way in – but you certainly feel its presence as it lingers in the finish. A splash of water cut through some of the sherry oak and released a malty character with some fresh, even tropical, fruits. I was picking up pineapple and lemon curd before the peat punched through.

Thoughts: Infinite Loch showed Ardnahoe thriving in bourbon casks with the light touch of oak allowing the spirit character to shine through. Here, the casks take more of a leading role with prominent sherry being the dominant factor but crucially (in my opinion) the oak hasn’t taken over completely. Especially after water was added, there was a lovely balance between sherry oak and Ardnahoe’s fruity, smoky spirit. Islay’s ninth distillery goes from strength to strength and the Society 2024 bottling is the ideal way for them to round off their first full year on the market. Great stuff.

Price: £85. You could make a strong argument that 5-year-old whisky from a distillery that’s still trying to establish itself shouldn’t come anywhere near this price point – and you’d probably be right but in comparison with other similarly priced bottles, it holds up pretty well, relative youngster or no. Can’t wait to see what 2025 brings from Ardnahoe.

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Bliadhna Mhath Ùr

All that remains is for me to wish you all the very happiest of new years. 2024 has certainly been interesting and 2025 promises more of the same.

I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to those who continue to read my reviews, especially since the content has slowed to a crawl over the last wee while. I’m looking forward to getting back to the weekly reviews in the early part of next year.

I hope you all have a great Hogmanay, surrounded by those you love and with something delicious in your glass.

Slàinte Mhòr.

Neill Murphy
A Scot on Scotch

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For more on Ardnahoe visit here

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