S
ingle malts have been posting
impressive numbers for years—
up 10% in 2011 alone. But
only The Dalmore can boast
a growth rate of 73% last year, which
makes it easily the fastest-growing single
malt brand in the world.
“
The Dalmore has a very accessible
taste profile, which makes its appeal
wide-ranging,” explains Chris Watt,
The Dalmore’s Global Head of Brand,
which he believes accounts for this
rise to the top. “Novices in the whisky
world expect Scotch to have strong,
alcoholic flavors and peaty notes. The
Dalmore doesn’t have that—it is very
complex, but very approachable from a
taste perspective.”
The Dalmore’s signature style—a
combination of coffee, chocolate, spice,
sweet vanilla and a distinctive or-
ange marmalade note—is the result of
maturation in small-batch American
bourbon casks and Matusalem oloroso
sherry casks. The latter are reserved for
The Dalmore by sherry master Gonza-
lez Byass and are 30 years old on aver-
age, hence the single malt’s pronounced
sherry flavors.
Recruiting Bourbon Drinkers
Interestingly, Watt sees a lot of single
malt marketshare coming from high-
end bourbon drinkers, rather than
blended Scotch consumers: “We wit-
ness a lot of men in their early 20s get-
ting into the business with bourbon, and
turning to single malts as they become
more knowledgeable. There are more
intricacies in production and aging pro-
cess of single malt Scotch, which they
appreciate. One important advantage
The Dalmore has is unparalleled whisky
stocks. “Distillery manag-
ers 50-plus years ago had
great foresight to hold
casks back, and that gives
us some of the oldest and rarest stocks
in the industry,” says Watt.
Growth at the High End
And they put these old stocks to good
use. In fact, The Dalmore is also the
fastest-growing single malt brand in
terms of value, thanks to the brand’s
more premium expressions. “Obviously
The Dalmore 12-Year Old ($50) is the
driver of our growth, but increasingly we
are seeing the 15- and 18-Year Old [$90
and $160 respectively] become much
more important in volume,” says Watt.
“
It seems we are recruiting new consum-
ers and they are trading up, which is the
business model we want.”
Even The Dalmore King Alexander
III—a limited release matured in six dif-
ferent types of oak barrels with a retail
price of $270—is growing in a signifi-
cant way. “We have window displays in
high-end retail stores, and this variant is
really starting to take off,” says Watt.
The Dalmore’s big presence at travel
retail has also helped build the brand’s
luxury image. “In the travel retail outlet
it’s possible to deliver above the line vis-
ibility; we are now the fastest-growing
Top 10 malt brand in travel retail with
year on year value growth of +95%,”
Watt describes.
One such product being featured
there is the just-released The Dalmore
Constellation Collection, a series of 21
cask bottlings of single vintages hand-
selected by Master Distiller Richard Pat-
erson. “The difference between this and
anything else we have ever done is that
these are all single cask, and are natural
in strength and color,” says Watt. Ex-
tremely limited—and for sale at close
to $250,000—the collection is selected
from casks produced from 1964 through
1992
and was launched in the high-pro-
file duty-free travel outlet World Duty
Free. “Having a collection like this on
display creates terrific halo effect for the
entire line.”
The Dalmore has also had success
with its recently re-launched Cigar Malt
Reserve, which had been temporarily
discontinued after smoking bans in the
U.S. and U.K. went into effect. “We re-
named the malt Gran Reserva, but no-
ticed that it was still listed on restaurant
drink menus as ‘The Dalmore Cigar Malt’
and there was huge interest in bringing it
back,” says Watt. “Bottled at 44% ABV,
and finessed in Cabernet Sauvignon
barriques, it truly pairs beautifully with
fine cigars.”
Same Malt, New Look
This November, The Dalmore rolled
out its new standardized package on all
expressions nationwide, featuring a new
stag (the brand’s iconic royal symbol).
Each box will highlight a maturation
statement—“Matured in American
White Oak and Oloroso Sherry Wood”
for example—intending to make things
ultra-clear for the consumer. “Our
package has always stood out, and now
it will have a more consistent look and
feel. People often purchase The Dalmore
for gifting reasons, but they buy it again
for the taste,” Watt says.
n
brand
profile
The Dalmore’s Day
How The Dalmore Became
The Fastest-Growing
Single Malt Scotch in the World
By kristen bieler