Inventory for November 27th, 2016

Greetings friends! We hope you survived Turkey weekend in style and are happy to meet the new week. We’ve got news regarding spirit duties in the UK, a new distillery that is set to open in the Highlands. Furthermore: the launch of Vulson Old Rhino Rye in Hamburg, and how a Trump presidency might affect the luxury spending sector. Cheers!

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No Changes to Spirits Duty in UK’s Autumn Statement

The Spirits Businesses reports that in Philip Hammond’s first budgetary address as chancellor, he “announced that fuel duty would be frozen, but neglected to announce any changes to alcohol and tobacco duties.” Which leaves the general public free to expect that duties across all alcoholic drinks categories shall remain the same. “Earlier this month, trade body the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) reported that six months after the 2016 duty freeze, the spirits industry added £1.48 billion to the UK economy.”

Plans Submitted for New Highland Whisky Distillery

“Ardross Investments has submitted plans to Scotland’s Highland Council to convert a 19th-century farm into a new whisky distillery and tasting lodge.”, so the drinks business notes. The company wants to create a “very high quality niche whisky”, create jobs for up to 15 workers, and, if successful, start work on the distillery in the summer of 2018. Not just a distillery would be sit on the site, but also a tasting lodge, worker’s houses, office space, and warehouses. “According to the application, the distillery will be comparable in size and style to Ballindalloch distillery in Moray.” The council’s planning committee is currently considering the application with members of the public.

Vulson Old Rhino Rye Launch

After the success of the White Rhino, Xavier Padovani and Domaine des Hautes Glaces launched the Vulson Old Rhino Rye in Germany last week. A brief glimpse at the launch’s Facebook page shows just how popular this news was. Hosted by Jörg Meyer at Hamburg’s Le Lion, Xavier Padovani brought over the first bottles of the aged, French Alp Rye Whisky to talk about its characteristics and served people their first taste. We can’t wait to try it ourselves!

Cognac Eyes the Trump Effect

Bloomberg recently took a look at the effect that Trump will have on the US economy. They say “Luxury spending is set to benefit if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump succeeds in lowering U.S. taxes, spurring rich consumers to buy more, according to the CEO of French cognac maker Remy Cointreau SA.” Trump proposed a $6.2 trillion tax cut over the next decade. Cointreau has focused its efforts on their expensive spirits and they’ve got high hopes that American sales will go through the roof in the next decade. The company’s Chief Executive Officer Valerie Chapoulad-Floquet is quoted as stating “Let’s be pragmatic, let’s see what happens. Are American whiskies going to benefit from nationalism? Maybe. Will Barbadian rum be treated differently? I don’t know. In the luxury world, for the time being, what’s being said is that what could happen will be favorable. Now, if I were a tequila producer, I might be a little bit afraid, for sure.” Time will tell.