Craft Spirits
Building the craft spirits franchise at Ian Macleod Distillers
Ian Macleod Distillers says that travel retail continues to play a vital role as a brand-building channel for craft spirits.
Global Travel Retail Director William Ovens says: “Research shows that consumers often buy brands and products for the first time in travel retail and then repurchase in domestic markets and travel retail. As such the appetite for craft spirits is still very much there, but probably back a little from 2023, as consumers are feeling the pinch with their disposable spend.”
He adds that there will always be a place for brands with a “tangible franchise”, highlighting the consumer response to new Edinburgh Gin expressions over the past six months.
The Edinburgh Gin boutique at Edinburgh Airport mirrors the architecture of the revamped distillery and visitor centre, set to open later this year {Photo by Lesley Martin}
One is the Avolta-exclusive Key Lime and Ginger-flavoured full strength gin, and the other is The Meadows, a London Dry gin that represents the debut offering in the Edinburgh Gin Traveller’s Collection.
The Meadows is only available at the brand owner’s recently opened 20sq m Edinburgh Gin boutique at Edinburgh Airport.
This offers a superb, dedicated space in which to showcase the range, something not many independent brands can avail of in the travel channel.
The travel retail-exclusive gin takes inspiration from the cherry blossom trees in The Meadows park, Edinburgh
Assessing how the wider travel retail industry can support newness in spirits, Ovens says: “Given the finite space and the established nature of the categories in GTR it is always going to be a challenge to establish new categories. In terms of new brands, there should be a dedicated area for exciting and innovative new brands to showcase their new products. That is good for the brands and exciting for more adventurous consumers. Complimentary tasting would also really help to get ‘liquid on lips’ which is so important for new brands.”
In parallel to building on the growth of the Edinburgh Gin franchise, Ovens list other priorities among its crafted spirits offer.
“At the top end of our range, we have our Rosebank Lowland Single Malt, known by many as the ‘King of the Lowlands’. This is high collectible single malt on a number of levels. Our second release in the Vintage series has now sold out and we look forward to unveiling the third edition at Cannes. We sense that demand is still there for limited edition GTR-exclusive bottlings from leading brands.”
Ian Macleod is also working on product development elsewhere, including limited-edition ultra-aged expressions from Tamdhu Speyside Single Malt and Rosebank Lowland Single Malts, plus a new core malt from Glengoyne Highland Single Malt. More on these line extensions will be revealed soon.
Partner's message
The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 337 | 11 September 2024
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 14 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (Moodie International Ltd). © All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the Publisher. To find out more visit www.moodiedavittreport.com and to subscribe, please e-mail kristyn@moodiedavittreport.com