Cask and Still Issue 18

Scotland’s drinks industry is an economic behemoth whose value to the country is often under-appreciated. Scotch whisky alone is worth £7.1 billion a year to our economy, which is 26% of all UK food and drink exports. It’s not just whisky though. A littleknown fact is that over 70% of gin made in the UK is also made in Scotland. According to The Spirits Business figures, three of the world’s top six selling gin brands are distilled in Scotland (Gordon’s is first, Tanqueray third, Hendrick’s sixth). The author of this issue’s The Rant column, Gin Bothy owner Kim Cameron, points out that such is the cachet of spirit distilled in Scotland that it attracts a 30% premium. Reputation drives price, something that the whisky industry understood a long while ago, which is why it has such stringent rules. Rather than a drag anchor to growth, this occasionally cumbersome bureaucracy has underpinned the development of the industry. This is why we believe it’s high time to extend that iron regulation to casks (a subject which Mark Littler covers on pages 34-37) and to gins which proclaim themselves to be ‘Made In Scotland’ (an issue which Kim covers on pages 12-13). This is very much an idea whose time has come. 

So why not dive into Cask and Still and find out more

EDITOR Richard Bath