Recently, some whisky brands have launched the concept products of “Gone Distillery”, “Gone Liquor” and “Silent Whiskey”. This means that some companies will mix or directly bottle the original wine of the closed whisky distillery for sale, but have a certain premium capacity.
A winery that once closed, today means high prices. Such products may have their scarcity value, but are more of a marketing ploy.
Recently, Diageo’s whisky brand Johnnie Walker has launched the product “Blue Label Disappearing Distillery Series”, which is a product that blends the original wines of some closed distilleries through bartenders.
Johnnie Walker’s main focus here is the concept of limited edition, and the original wine from the disappearing winery must be limited. This also increases the premium capability for the product. WBO saw on JD.com that a limited edition 750 ml of the Johnnie Walker blue brand vanished winery series Pittiwick retails for 2,088 yuan per bottle. The ordinary blue card is priced at 1119 yuan per bottle in the Jingdong 618 event. Chivas Regal’s “Royal Salute” to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th Anniversary Platinum Jubilee Whiskey uses the same concept.
This exclusive bottling of the blended whisky is at least 32 years old and comes from seven “Silent Whisky Distilleries”. This refers to the original whisky from those distilleries that closed. As inventory becomes less and less, its value continues to rise. Each set sold for £17,500 at auction. As early as 2020, Pernod Ricard’s “Secret Speyside” series also used the original wine of the vanishing winery.
The Loch Lomain Group is also making good use of this concept. They have a vanishing winery, the Littlemill Distillery, which was built in 1772 and became silent after 1994. It was destroyed by a fire in 2004, and only the broken wall remains. The ruins can no longer produce whisky, so the small amount of the original wine left in the distillery is extremely precious.
In September 2021, Loch Romain launched a whisky, the original wine comes from the original wine of the distillery that was destroyed by the fire in 2004, and the aging year is as high as 45 years.
Many wineries that are no longer in operation are closed due to poor management back then. Since the competitiveness is insufficient, what is the logic of selling high prices today?
In this regard, Zhai Yannan of Guangzhou Aotai Wine Industry introduced to WBO: This is because the price of Scotch whisky and Japanese whisky increased significantly last year, while the stock of wineries in Scotland is not large, especially the years of closure of wineries are very old, which leads to the fact that Rare is expensive.
Chen Li (pseudonym), a wine merchant who has been in the whisky industry for many years, pointed out that this situation also stems from everyone following old wines. Today, there is a shortage of older single malt whisky, and as long as there is stock and the quality is good, it can tell a story and sell for a high price.
“In fact, these closed and closed distilleries are because the single malt whisky market was not as popular as it is today, and many closed down due to poor sales and losses. However, the quality of the liquor brewed by some distilleries is still very good. Today, the entire whisky industry is bullish, and some giants use the concept of vanishing liquor to integrate and sell.” Zhai Yannan said.
Li Siwei, a whisky expert, pointed out: “The business competitiveness of the distillery has collapsed, but this does not mean that the quality is not good. I have also tasted some old wines, and the quality is indeed very good. The old wines with broken distilleries and good quality are in There is scarcity in the market, and the winery has the ability to advertise this information and let a lot of people know, so it may be hyped, and I think it is reasonable.”
Liu Rizhong, a wine merchant who has been in the whisky industry for many years, pointed out that the number of whisky in Scotland is limited today, and the number of historical distilleries is even more limited. In the whisky industry, the so-called high age is often used to hype.Wu Yonglei, general manager of Xiamen Fengde Wine Industry, said bluntly: “I think this move is more about the brand wanting to tell a story, and there are many elements of hype.”
An industry insider pointed out: Of course, many whiskeys are completely unrelated to old wines, and it is unlikely. However, most of the old wines of many old factories may have been sold before, and some even only have equipment and names left. Whiskey is very knowledgeable, how much old wine is in, and what proportion of the lost liquor accounts for, ultimately only the brand owner knows.