The 2010 Whisky Bible has named Kentucky’s Sazerac Rye whisky as the best in the world, bumping Argyll’s Ardbeg Islay malt – last year’s winner, into 2nd place and closely shadowed by 3rd placed Amrut Fusion, produced in Bangalore in India.

This underlined the shock earlier this year when Whisky Magazine, widely seen as the most authoritative guide, chose a Japanese single malt and a blended whisky among its major awards.

And then the auld enemy’s coming up on the inside rails. The Nelstrop family’s English Whisky Co, based in Roundham in Norfolk, cheekily launched its first whisky, the 3 year old Chapter 6, yesterday – on St Andrews Day. Say that’s not a shot across the bows.

The invader has already had a well received tasting at the Scottish Malt Whisky Society and is shipping 500 bottles a month to Scotland. The distillery plans to produce both a plain and a peated whisky and its Master Distiller, David Fitt, is delighted. at how well things are going.

The company’s distillery was built only 3 years ago and yes, there is an Argyll link to its success. Ian Henderson, the former distillery manager at Laphroaig on Islay was lured out of retirement to lend his expertise to the project.

Jim Murray, publisher of The Whisky Bible feels that Scotch needs to look to its position. He sees complacency and, in some places, a certain slippage of standards as major contributors to the threatened loss of the automatic status of Scotch as the best whisky.

He sees a problem in some poor casks and finds agreement in this diagnosis from Bob Allanson, who edits Whisky Magazine.

Allanson feels that the rise in the cost of materials has led some of the bigger distilleries to be less scrupulous than usual in buying casks and that the resulting loss of quality has been affecting sales. He excepts the smaller distilleries from this, though, and sees them as continuing to punch well above their weight.

The world changes and it is always a mistake in any field to assume that a superior position will continue without effort, development and active response to changing circumstances. There is only one ‘Scotch’ . The question now is, will Scotch continue to dominate the quality end of the whisky market?

Related Posts

• Diageo: the real issue is the Scotch whisky industry (34)
• Kilchoman Distillery auction of historic bottle of malt whisky (0)
• Still life at Bruichladdich (1)
• Bruichladdich weighs in for Islay barley (0)
• Ardbeg Gourmet Ride… Graeme Obree… only on Islay (1)

---

The Latest News from ForArgyll delivered via email, weekly or daily. You know it makes sense!

---

Comments (rss) | Respond | Ping | | Print This Post