Independents

[Aidan]

Am I right in thinking that there's more and more and more and more independents? What does this mean for whisky?

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

Am I right in thinking that there's more and more and more and more independents? What does this mean for whisky?

I am not sure that there are more and more independent bottlers.

There are more and more companies individuals and agents that jump onto a fast moving band waggon.

Many try to make a profit in the booming times whisky experiences at the moment.

But ask Mr. Mountcharles he will tell you about the perspectives of independent whiskey bottling.

http://www.drogheda-independent.ie/news ... 84147.html

At the moment it means lots of money being moved in the whisky business.

But already you hear that IBs have problems in getting good casks of whisky or casks of whisky at all for independent bottling.

If you are right and there are more and more IBs then it means problems for this sector.

The sources have to be spread further apart and procurement might get difficult.

Greetings
kallaskander

[Aidan]

I'm not sure that there are more and more, but it just seems to me like there are. Lots of casks being halved too, but maybe this always happened.

I'm sure a lot of them will bottle just about whatever they can get their hands on. Maybe this assumption isn't correct.

[Lawrence]

I think there are more independents but it could be that they have already existed and are moving into fresh markets. I'd never heard of many European based ones (outside of the UK) until a few years ago but just because I hadn't heard of them until recently doesn't mean there are more.

However it does seem there are more which flies in the face of the rumour that they are having a hard time sourcing casks. Perhaps it's simply they are having trouble sourcing a quantity of good casks rather than sorcing any old cask(s).

I guess one way to sort this out would be to check Harry's Free Guide of the Independent Bottlers and see who is missing or not...

[corbuso]

There is indeed an increase of independent bottlers, with every year, a few more comings. However, this does not results in larger choice, with many companies sharing the casks or a lot of cask (see my impression at http://www.whisky-news.com/En/reports/Review_2011.html). This is one way to increase your benefits, especially for a retailer.

If every independent would sell different products, this would be fine, but with everyont selling almost the same Caol Ila, Laphroaig, Tomatin, Bunnhahbhain or tomintoul, this leads to the confusion for the buyer. Which one to buy?

[scotchio]

I thought the long term trend was for bigger independent s to buy distilleries due to the likelihood of stock becoming harder to obtain and the disappearance of lucrative closed distillery bottlings. May be a case of enjoying the range of choice while it lasts.