Hello Asia: Globalizing Scottish Whiskey

Hear a Scotsman (who is passionate about his whiskey) explain why he and other Scots are heartbroken over Scottish distilleries selling out to global beverage companies. Learn the story one acquired whiskey brand that has lost a 140 year old market of drinkers in Scotland as a result.   Plus... Hello Asia ! So Japan won the whiskey in the world competition? What's up with that?

From this episode:

"We're a little bit heartbroken that some of these distilleries sold themselves out, really, you know?"

"We can only produce with how much barley we have, and we can only produce what the traditional methods will allow."

"In order to be classed a single malt Scottish whisky company, all the ingredients must be grown in Scotland."

"In February of last year I could have bought a bottle of McCallen's 10 year standard for about 35 pounds a bottle. By the June the same year, it was 230 pounds a bottle, because they had flooded the foreign market with this whisky."

"So if McCallen's don't do well on the foreign market, they've lost their customer base in Scotland. 'Cause we felt that was quite, well, quite rude."

"Any time very expensive, private bottles of whisky went to auction, it's also been Japan that's bought them. So they've been perfecting their techniques in making single malt whisky."

"The rules of the best single malt whisky in the world competition is a bit silly. You can only ever win it once. Which means, unfortunately, that at some point in time, the worst whisky in the world is going to win the best whisky in the world award."