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I was expecting an article about climate change... Turns out Japan is running out of Whisky because it is popular and people drank it all. Whisky takes time t

I was expecting an article about climate change... Turns out Japan is running out of Whisky because it is popular and people drank it all. Whisky takes time to mature, so there is a long lag time before production can ramp up to meet the new demand.

WorldMaker 8y ago
Whisky is an interesting business. The whiskey shortage is actually impacting everyone (entire shelves have "disappeared" and the rare bottles are even more rare today than a decade ago), but Japan has been ahead of that demand curve and/or a major factor in its current global popularity/shortage. Japan imports a lot of whisky, loves Bourbon, and Japanese companies have made big plays in the Kentucky Bourbon space. (Kirin rebuilt the Four Roses distillery a while back, and Suntory merged with Beam Brands to form Beam Suntory.) Bourbon is "lucky" here in that the average lag time is ~3-5 years (3 years of aging to qualify for a "Kentucky Straight Bourbon" label, 5 years being most drinkers' preference). The Scotch distilleries and their ~10-15 year lag time to meet demand is a bigger problem in the global whisky shortage. One of the biggest ways the Scotch distillers have been coping is removing Age Statements from their labels, which runs the risk of ruining the reputations of some of their brands if they are chancing things with immature/too young product and avoiding lying to drinkers about it by simply not admitting the Age of the product. (I live in Louisville, KY and several of my neighbors are distilleries, so I find this all fascinating local interest.)
- King-Aaron 8y ago
  > One of the biggest ways the Scotch distillers have been coping is removing Age Statements from their labels I'd noticed this, and was wondering why.
- ksec 8y ago
  The problem is even after some of them / range / SKUs have removed the age label. They were still flying off the shelves because people recognised there is going to be less of it. My friend does lots of Macallan whisky trading.
  - WorldMaker 8y ago
    Certainly. It's a risk/reward judgment call by the distillery. They risk their brand getting labeled a poor or bottom-shelf brand, though, if they aren't careful and they misjudge demand. That's not a hypothetical, similar whisky culture cycles in history have shown once good/strong/trusted brands in the heat of a shortage/high-demand period make short term gains and long term folly. Four Roses is a fun immediate example I already mentioned. Before Kirin bought Four Roses it was a struggling "bottom shelf" bourbon that had made some poor choices (by former Canadian alcohol conglomerate Seagram) in the whisky boom of the 50s/60s and subsequent whisky bust in the 70s/80s that busted many brands. [1] Kirin spent a lot of marketing money bringing Four Roses back up the shelves. The obvious counterpoints are products like Pappy van Winkle that are keeping the age statements, keeping to those age commitments, and riding the shortage to seem more exclusive/exotic. [1] One article mentioning it: http://fortune.com/2014/02/06/the-billion-dollar-bourbon-boom/ http://fortune.com/2014/02/06/the-billion-dollar-bourbon-boo...

WorldMaker 8y ago

Whisky is an interesting business. The whiskey shortage is actually impacting everyone (entire shelves have "disappeared" and the rare bottles are even more rare today than a decade ago), but Japan has been ahead of that demand curve and/or a major factor in its current global popularity/shortage. Japan imports a lot of whisky, loves Bourbon, and Japanese companies have made big plays in the Kentucky Bourbon space. (Kirin rebuilt the Four Roses distillery a while back, and Suntory merged with Beam Brands to form Beam Suntory.) Bourbon is "lucky" here in that the average lag time is ~3-5 years (3 years of aging to qualify for a "Kentucky Straight Bourbon" label, 5 years being most drinkers' preference). The Scotch distilleries and their ~10-15 year lag time to meet demand is a bigger problem in the global whisky shortage. One of the biggest ways the Scotch distillers have been coping is removing Age Statements from their labels, which runs the risk of ruining the reputations of some of their brands if they are chancing things with immature/too young product and avoiding lying to drinkers about it by simply not admitting the Age of the product. (I live in Louisville, KY and several of my neighbors are distilleries, so I find this all fascinating local interest.)

King-Aaron 8y ago
> One of the biggest ways the Scotch distillers have been coping is removing Age Statements from their labels I'd noticed this, and was wondering why.
ksec 8y ago
The problem is even after some of them / range / SKUs have removed the age label. They were still flying off the shelves because people recognised there is going to be less of it. My friend does lots of Macallan whisky trading.
- WorldMaker 8y ago
  Certainly. It's a risk/reward judgment call by the distillery. They risk their brand getting labeled a poor or bottom-shelf brand, though, if they aren't careful and they misjudge demand. That's not a hypothetical, similar whisky culture cycles in history have shown once good/strong/trusted brands in the heat of a shortage/high-demand period make short term gains and long term folly. Four Roses is a fun immediate example I already mentioned. Before Kirin bought Four Roses it was a struggling "bottom shelf" bourbon that had made some poor choices (by former Canadian alcohol conglomerate Seagram) in the whisky boom of the 50s/60s and subsequent whisky bust in the 70s/80s that busted many brands. [1] Kirin spent a lot of marketing money bringing Four Roses back up the shelves. The obvious counterpoints are products like Pappy van Winkle that are keeping the age statements, keeping to those age commitments, and riding the shortage to seem more exclusive/exotic. [1] One article mentioning it: http://fortune.com/2014/02/06/the-billion-dollar-bourbon-boom/ http://fortune.com/2014/02/06/the-billion-dollar-bourbon-boo...