Native Ileach Barry MacAffer has announced his plans to leave Laphroaig Distillery, where he has been the distillery manager since 2022. MacAffer departs after 13 years at Laphroaig, where he rose through the ranks from the malting floor to assistant manager, and was promoted to distillery manager upon John Campbell’s departure at the end of 2021. “It’s been an incredible journey, but now I feel the time has come for me to explore new opportunities beyond my native Islay,” MacAffer said in a letter to members of the Friends of Laphroaig affinity group. MacAffer will remain at Laphroaig through ..read more

Six years after launching the Noble Oak Bourbon brand, Edrington has agreed to sell the brand to A21 Wine & Spirits for an undisclosed amount. Edrington launched the brand in 2018 for the U.S. market as a way to enter the premium Bourbon category. Noble Oak started with a “double oaked” Bourbon finished in Sherry casks, and later added a Rye Whiskey to the portfolio, using whiskey sourced from MGP for both expressions. The move is expected to cement Wyoming Whiskey as Edrington’s flagship U.S. whiskey brand. The brand made its reputation by pledging to plant a tree for every bottle sold, a ..read more

English wine producer Nyetimber plans to enter the whisky business with its acquisition of The Lakes Distillery in Cumbria. The deal, which values the distillery at £71 million, is expected to close later this year after Lakes shareholders vote to approve the offer. The all-cash offer comes at a time when the distillery is losing money, having reported a loss of £1.3 million in its last fiscal year. However, The Spirits Business reports the distillery has shown a gain of 35% in sales during the first seven months of the current fiscal year. The distillery needed to raise additional capital ove ..read more

41 years after the venerable Port Ellen Distillery closed in 1983, an all-new Port Ellen distillery has opened on Islay. The project, seven years in the making, completes Diageo’s £185 million investment in upgrading its Scotch Whisky distilleries and visitors centers. The centerpiece of the project is an all-new carbon-neutral still house with two sets of stills. One set replicates the original Port Ellen stills, while the second set will be for experimental projects. In a statement, Port Ellen Master Distiller Alistair McDonald said “It is an honour to take up this new position at the helm o ..read more

After 23 years, Compass Box founder and chief whisky maker John Glaser is leaving the London-based company. His resignation comes two years after Caelum Capital took majority ownership of Compass Box, which has become known for its eclectic collection of blended Scotch whiskies. “What I can say now is that is has been an incredible 23-year journey.  And now it’s time to step away,” Glaser said in an email. “It’s not been an easy decision, but it’s the right time. It’s time to pass on the reins to the new management and explore other opportunities.” Glaser will continue to own a minority s ..read more

While most drinks industry reports have been full of bad news in recent weeks, a new report released by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States shows U.S. spirits exports have recovered from three years of European Union tariffs. Exports totaled $2.2 billion in 2023, up 8% over 2022, while American whiskey exports increased by 9% to a record $1.4 billion. Whiskies account for 63% of all U.S. spirits exports by value and 34% by volume. In a news release, DISCUS Vice President of International Trade Rob Maron said “The tariffs imposed from 2018-2021 as part of two separate disputes be ..read more

In what industry executives describe as a “challenging year” for the spirits industry, 2023 proved to be a down year for Scotch Whisky exports. New data released by the Scotch Whisky Association show a 9.5% decline in the value of exports during 2023 compared to 2022, which has been called an outlier year because of the boom in exports and spirits sales globally following the end of the pandemic. Volume declined by 19% year over year as consumer demand for spirits slipped given current economic headwinds. Exports to the U.S., traditionally Scotch Whisky’s largest export market by value, were d ..read more

U.S. spirits producers turned in a flat performance in 2023, according to new economic data released today by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. While distilled spirits maintained their market share accounting for 42% of all beverage alcohol sales, sales only showed a 0.2% gain with a 1.2% gain in volume. Irish, Single Malt Scotch whiskies, and Canadian whiskies took the largest hits, dropping year-over-year in revenue growth by 19.4%, 8.4%, and 5.9% respectively. This is significant, since the U.S. represents the largest market for Irish and Canadian whiskey sales and one of ..read more

A new report estimates that the Bourbon industry has a $9 billion economic impact on Kentucky’s economy each year. According to the biennial report commissioned by the Kentucky Distillers Association, that impact includes more than 23,000 jobs with annual salaries and benefits totaling $2.2 billion. “Kentucky Bourbon is a $9 billion economic and tourism powerhouse for our Commonwealth, now generating more jobs, more payroll, more tax revenue, more tourists and more distilleries in more Kentucky counties than ever before, KDA President Eric Gregory said at a briefing at the state Capitol in Fra ..read more

The Artisanal Spirits Company, owners of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, have acquired the US-based independent bottler Single Cask Nation from its founders, Joshua Hatton and Jason Johnstone-Yellin. The founders will remain with the company and lead its business from their base in Connecticut, according to a statement released by ASC today. “In a way, by joining ASC we’re coming full-circle in our whisky journey,” Johnstone-Yellin said in the statement. “It was actually The Scotch Malt Whisky Society that first inspired us to start an independent bottling business in the first place. We’ve ad ..read more