Nearly 70 per cent of malt distilleries are ultimately owned by companies outside Scotland with wealthy people linked to the whisky industry including a French fashion billionaire, an Australian yoghurt tycoon, a Swiss philanthropist and Thailand’s richest man.
The Ferret can reveal that of the 126 Scots distilleries only a third (42) are owned by Scottish firms.
Companies based in Bermuda, Gibraltar, China, France, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand are among those investing in an industry which was worth £3.8bn to the Scottish economy in 2020.
Foreign investment has been welcomed by some commentators. But others expressed concern that profit could flow out of Scotland and domestic industry be excluded.
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The rewarding world of collecting whisky, whether for investment or sheer enjoyment…
Last October the US$1.9 million sale of a bottle of The Macallan single malt Scotch distilled in 1926 the highest price ever paid at auction for a bottle of spirit made even those who never touch the stuff sit up and take notice. At 700ml, it contains about 45 pours, making each dram worth around US$42,000. Martin Green, Whisky Specialist for the storied Bonhams auction house in Edinburgh, Scotland, and one of the world’s foremost experts, was, however, hardly surprised.
“For the past two years, Scotch whisky has been making headlines around the world as never before,” Green tells us. “Records have tumbled at such a pace that, at one point, Bonhams broke the world record for a bottle of whisky at auction twice in the same sale,” in Hong Kong in May 2018 both of them also Macallans from 1926.
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