Strange brews as UK whiskey distillers cash in on gin boom
METHVEN, Scotland (Reuters) – Seaweed, rhubarb, Christmas pudding and even ants – all ingredients used by a new generation of gin makers enjoying a booming British market.
That demand for left-field versions of the once traditional spirit has been a gift for Scottish whiskey makers, including some new players that have anchored their business with gin revenues while waiting for the Scotch to mature.
Gin can be produced in about a week, whereas whiskey takes at least three years. But the equipment needed to make them – alcohol stills – are the same. Scotland, more famous for whiskey, also makes about 70% of the gin consumed in the UK and produces its three leading brands.
“It’s essentially the same thing. You track whiskey back, and its root is basically gin,” said Tony Reeman-Clark, who set up his Strathearn distillery in Perthshire in 2013 with about £250,000 in financial backing via friends, family and a loan.
While waiting for his whiskey, Reeman-Clark has made, among others, an after-dinner gin to be sipped neat, matured with the stave of a whiskey barrel in it for flavor.
“People have changed,” he told Reuters. “They will go out and have two drinks for the flavor. They want the story behind it: The drink is distinctive, it’s unique, and there is a quality to it.”
There has been a surge in small artisan distilleries in the UK; out of 250 of them, almost 100 have opened in the last two years.
“It’s well known, there is always a market for gin, and you could see it was starting to change because people were bored with the big-boy gins,” Reeman-Clark said.
The amount of gin being drunk in bars grew 14% by volume and 19% by value in the year to October 1, according to the wine and spirits trade association.
But whiskey sales in the UK are still worth more than twice those of gin. The overall British spirits market is growing at 3% to 4% annually, ahead of overall economic growth of about 2%.
Last week, Reeman-Clark finally sealed his first 100 bottles of whiskey, which are three years and a day old. The first half-liter of it sold in an online auction for £4,150 to a collector of special whiskeys.
Other producers, such as the Harris Distillery in the Hebrides, at the northwestern tip of Britain, and the Cotswold Distillery in the heart of rural England, are doing essentially the same thing: producing quality gins that are distinctive while they wait for whiskey.
“In general, consumers are more educated,” said Humphrey Serjeantson, head of research at the IWSR research body. “Brands like Gordons are still popular, but it is losing share to those coming in. The question is how long the newcomers can last.”