Fighting the Scotch Tide

There are two things a Highlander likes naked, and one of them is malt whisky. --Scottish proverb

Such an observation will provoke no argument on the tiny Hebridean isle of Islay, which rises out of the sea like a briny Brigadoon 15 miles off Scotland's west coast. Most of the 4,000 inhabitants exist by producing some of Scotland's finest malt whiskies, up to 65 of which are married in a single blend to give famous Scotch brands their distinctive smoky bouquets. The island's eight distilleries, bearing such names as Bruichladdich, Lagavulin and Bunnahabhain, produce 2,500,000 gallons annually but are well behind demand. "Everyone is making just as much as they can," says Bessie Campbell, chairman of Laphroiag distillery, "and there isn't an end in sight."

The ebullient mood of Islay, one of the major malt-whisky-producing centers, is typical of the Scotch industry these days. Over the past decade, world sales have doubled to $422 million a year; in the U.S. alone, they have jumped by 150%, to $223 million. But the long sales rise could now be threatened. U.S. distillers, led by bourbon producers fighting to stem the Scotch tide, are preparing a new weapon: light whisky. A wholly different kind of tipple, it is due to appear in 1972.

Roll Out the Barrel. Though bourbon and spirit blends remain the overwhelming favorites of American drinkers, both have been slipping in popularity. Consumption of distilled spirits has been growing at 6% annually in the U.S., and last year reached 375 million gallons. In the past twelve years, however, bourbon's share of the market has declined from 30% to 23%, and blended whisky has gone down from 33% to 21%. Meanwhile, the market share held by Scotch has risen from 7.6% to 12.5%. Gin's share increased from 9% to 10% and vodka's from 7% to 12%.

There has been a shift in Americans' tastes, in the direction of "lighter" drinks. The terms are vague, but light usually connotes lower proof, a less pronounced taste and lighter color, while heavy whiskies have a definite flavor, more aftertaste and more caramel color. Scotch blenders, capitalizing on their whisky's carefully nurtured reputation for lightness, have in recent years pitched their promotions to the status conscious,* the young and the increasing number of women drinkers.

For years, a quirky federal regulation effectively barred U.S. distillers from marketing a competing light whisky. The rule: their bourbon and rye whisky had to be distilled at no higher than 160 proof and had to mature in new charred casks in order to be considered legally "aged." If old casks were used, the whisky had to bear the label "Stored in used cooperage"--a line not likely to boost sales. By contrast, the light grain whisky used in Scotch is distilled at 190 proof. Scotch is also ripened in used barrels, which impart no charred flavor to the whisky's light body. But finally, in 1968, the distillers won federal approval to mature a new high-proof whisky in used kegs and label it "aged."

With that, the distillers began making "light" whisky. By the time the first bungs are pulled from the barrels in 1972, an estimated 200 million gallons of the new drink will be available for the market in all price ranges. The U.S. distillers are taking an enormous gamble because no one can be sure exactly how the whisky will taste until it matures. Experts guess that it will be somewhere between Canadian and Scotch.

Curing the Common Cold. Scotch blenders jest about the cachet that Americans attach to light whisky but are eager to exploit it. Cutty Sark and J. & B., the two most popular brands in the U.S., are specifically blended to American taste and are all but unknown in Scotland. The various malt whiskies in most famous brands are distilled in small pot stills and blended from recipes as closely guarded as state secrets. Blends prepared for the U.S. market contain a high proportion of grain whisky (sometimes up to 80%), which needs little aging and requires little skill to make, but results in light body. The marketing tactics annoy the British literary critic David Daiches so much that in his recent book, Scotch Whisky, Its Past and Present he complained: "Much whisky advertising, especially in the U.S., is calculated to confuse the public as to what Scotch whisky is."

There is no such confusion on the isle of Islay, where the only acceptable Scotch is an unblended heavy malt. The islanders, who have been known to take a tot of the stuff themselves from time to time, testify to its near magical properties in curing colds or even radiation poisoning. About 105 different malts are made in Scotland, each with its own bouquet, body and wallop. The blenders of these whiskies are concerned but not frantic about the prospect of battling the U.S. light brigade. "It would be a mistake to be complacent," says John Rudd, managing director of Berry Bros. & Rudd, Ltd., blenders of Cutty Sark. "But if we cannot cope with it, we're no bloody good." That is about the last thing that their U.S. competitors would call them.

* Black men constitute one of the most status-conscious groups in the U.S., and an estimated 34% of them drink Scotch, compared with 21% of the white male population.

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