Has whisky finally found the flavour grail? – comment

Does anybody out there remember Ginger Grouse - later rechristened The Famous Ginger Grouse? Anybody? Oh well. Nearly a decade ago, I wrote an article on Just Drinks praising this relatively minor piece of innovation from Edrington: essentially an RTD (alcoholic ginger beer) bolt-on to The Famous Grouse franchise. In a Scotch whisky industry all too often characterised by indolence and complacency, I argued, this small act of revolution was a hugely positive move, and - given its sheer simplicity and approachability - Ginger Grouse deserved to succeed where other similar efforts had failed in the past. It was, in brief, a winner. Until, that is, it was discontinued a few years later. The Ginger misfire was the central episode in a succession of tentative moves into 'flavoured whisky' by The Famous Grouse during that period, from the introduction of a cola-based RTD into the UK in 2010 to the trial of citrus, vanilla and spice Grouse variants in Sweden three years later. The fact that none had any longevity encapsulates Scotch’s difficult relationship with flavoured expressions. Bacardi, to take another example, has cast aside the Highlander Honey spin-off from Dewar's in favour of a succession of “pure” Scotches that use cask finishes to tease out new flavours: rum, mezcal, Port, Japanese Mizunara oak, Calvados. Among Scotches, only Ballantine’s, with its trio of flavoured “spirit drinks”, including Wild (cherry flavour), Brasil (lime) and Passion (tropical fruit), has really embraced the 'flavoured whisky' concept with any conviction. But, Ballantine’s aside, the contention among many in the industry is that the strict rules governing Scotch whisky production are in themselves the inspiration for a different kind of creativity; one that explores the flexibility inherent in the regulations to discover new techniques and create fresh flavours. Work through the production process of Scotch - from the raw materials via malting, milling, mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation - and the possible permutations in flavour terms are dizzying. As distillers increasingly experiment with different cereal grains, yeast strains and cask types (the latter aided by the regulatory changes introduced in 2019), the potential for innovation is huge. Nonetheless, this argument is rooted in production, rather than consumer need. Meanwhile, North American whiskies in particular - most notably Jack Daniel’s, Jim Beam and Crown Royal - have made highly successful forays into the world of flavour, luring new consumers to their brand franchises in the process. This flavours debate has resurfaced now for Scotch thanks to the launch, announced this month by William Grant & Sons, of Grant’s Summer Orange: a 35%-abv combination of blended Scotch with Sicilian orange extract and “natural citrusy orange flavours”. Why this particular launch at this particular time? Looking more broadly at the beverage alcohol marketplace, it looks like an opportunistic attempt to tap into a current consumer flavour trend, forming part of a rash of similar recent NPD from various brand owners. Over the past 12 months, we’ve had orange, or blood orange, flavour launches from brands as diverse as Caorunn gin, Rekorderlig and Thatchers ciders – and, on the whisky front, Jim Beam, Haig Club and Jameson. The launch of Jim Beam Orange in June last year comes as no surprise - the extension joins a flavours stable that already encompasses Vanilla, Apple and Maple - and Diageo’s Haig Club Mediterranean Orange looks to this possibly slightly cynical commentator like a faintly desperate bid to breathe new life into the company’s misfiring grain whisky joint venture with David Beckham. By contrast, Jameson Orange, a 30%-abv, US$24.99 variant launched initially in the UK and then Russia last year (the latter placed on pause for the foreseeable future), then rolled out to the US market from early 2022, is by far the most interesting of the three. Brand owner Pernod Ricard clearly has big ambitions for Orange, as is evidenced by its high profile in recent results announcements: adorning the second page of the company’s Q3 presentation (which references its “successful start”), and with CEO Alex Ricard giving the new launch the hard sell during the H1 post-results conference call a few months earlier. Asked if he thought Jameson Orange’s sales would be incremental, Ricard hedged his bets somewhat. Yes, he told one analyst, before adding: “But … I don’t mind if there were cannibalisation. It’s always nicer to cannibalise yourself than be cannibalised by the competition.” Put another way - and here’s the potential lesson for Scotch - a spin-off like Jameson Orange gives existing customers another reason to buy the brand, particularly when the product in question has potential seasonal appeal for the Northern Hemisphere Summer. Of course, Ricard is thinking bigger than that - in fact, he explicitly stated during the conference call that the launch aims to recruit “a different type of profile of consumer” into the Jameson franchise, one that has “developed a taste for some very specific flavours”. But, even if Jameson Orange - and, by extension, Grant’s Summer Orange - prove to be nothing more than opportunistic pieces of NPD with strictly seasonal appeal and a limited shelf life, they can still perform useful roles for their brands and categories at a time when consumer flavour trends are moving at a dizzying pace. More importantly, I’d argue that maintaining consumer relevance in a fast-changing bev-alc arena is something that blended Scotch in particular shouldn’t be sniffy about. Then again, I once said much the same thing about Ginger Grouse…