My piece on Canadian Whisky for the Huffington Post:
Canadian whisky has a history of being among the best-selling whisky in the world. However, the Canadian whisky story isn't about sales. It's about the flavour, and how the Canadian whisky industry is adapting to premium flavour-forward competition from other countries.
Although the recommendations of my Spotlight Toronto piece are more directed at Ontario readers (where one government corporations sells all the whisky), it's still a good piece to brush up on American whisky, and the subtle labeling differences that make all the difference with how the whisky is made:
“Each country regulates the requirements for whisky, and these regulations have a big impact on the final product. In Scotland, single malt scotch is defined as being from one distillery, and made of 100% malted barley. The only additives allowed are water and a touch of caramel for colouring. In the United States, “Straight Bourbon” is even more heavily regulated than single malt scotch. Without “straight” on the label, however, the bourbon might contain additional flavouring.”
“But in a time when society is trying to move away from sexism and 1950s-era female stereotypes, Piehole is a huge fail. In its marketing, Diageo says Piehole is inspired by grandma. If that’s the case, why are there mid-20th Century strippers on the label? If we’re really trying to sell grandma’s recipes, how about a tasteful image of a grandma? Oh, yeah, that’s not going to appeal to Johnny Frat Boy.”
I agree with Fred. Sure, you can argue that marketers are catering to an already existing market. Some see this as justification enough, but by using out-dated imagery on cheap flavoured whisky, they're just helping to maintain bad behaviour. Piehole Cherry Pie Whisky. Really?
Telling paragraph from Oliver Klimek, on Diageo placing blended scotch above single malts:
Diageo ... tirelessly emphasizes the importance that blended whisky has for them, that single malts are more ore less regarded as a by-product of blending and that they are not really relevant for their business.
The entire piece is excellent, and I couldn't agree more. While Diageo owns some of the more popular names in single malt scotch, the blended whisky of Johnnie Walker is the star of their Scottish portfolio. Most Diageo's single malt distilleries are hidden behind the Discovering Distilleries website that looks more like an after-thought from 2002.
Few of the distilleries have an interest write-up online. I'm thankful that the Diageo brand group in Canada was incredibly helpful when writing The Whisky Cabinet. I was able to get the background information needed for the book.
