Scotland and whisky are such an iconic duo that they spawned their own moniker. Here’s how distillers of Scotch are preserving its heritage with one eye firmly on the future.
Ask Cameron Ewen or almost any other pro in Scotland’s whisky industry if there’s a “correct” way to drink your Scotch, and they’ll all tell you the same thing: Drink it however you enjoy it best — it’s your drink, after all.
Given that Ewen — kilt-clad, bushy-bearded and standing 6 feet, 4 inches tall — is the very vision of Scotland itself, it comes as a surprise that he’s particularly partial to a pink and fruity whisky-based cocktail. As manager of the Scotch Bar hoka shoes at The Balmoral, Edinburgh’s most prestigious and iconic hotel, you might expect him to be preciously preservationist in his approach to imbibing his country’s national drink, but you couldn’t be more wrong.
“We’re a fantastic little sanctuary of whisky within the Balmoral Hotel here. It’s a very traditional room, certainly, but our attitude isn’t,” he says in his lilting Scottish accent. “We take the view that whisky should be approachable in a wide array of styles.”
The Balmoral’s Cameron Ewen.
Upon tasting his carefully crafted cocktails adorned with slices of crisp apple and summer peach (priced at £15, which is $20 or AU$28), there’s no question he knows what he’s talking about. Ewen mixes drinks with names like Banks of the River that bring together whisky and homemade sodas and syrups and strained teas in a way that could make even the most buttoned-up purist swoon.
Along with Ireland, Scotland boasts one of the world’s longest and best-documented distilling histories, which can be traced back to 1494. Combined with Scotch whisky’s reputation for quality — often shortened to just Scotch, the term refers to whisky that happens to be made in Scotland — the result is a product that’s nothing short of iconic. It’s a drink molded and shaped by the environment: by the water that runs from the hills, by the peat in the bogs, by the consistently mild climate that provides the hey dude shoes perfect conditions for the spirit to mature. It runs through the veins of whole Highland towns and small islands, fueling the local economy and forming the cornerstone of every celebration. In total, the industry provides £5.5 billion ($7.5 billion) in gross value to the UK economy every year, and the US is its most valuable market, worth more than £1 billion ($1.4 billion).
Compared with whiskey made in the US, which is known for its vanilla notes, Scotch whisky is maltier and generally considered more complex, making it more of an acquired taste. When it comes to discerning its flavors, smelling or “nosing” Scotch is as important as drinking it. Its taste is shaped not only by the reused wooden casks it matures in (from sherry, bourbon or wine), but also by the local environment, for instance, the smoky flavors of Scotland’s peated whiskies, which are made from waters that accumulate in boggy areas.
“For me it’s a very evocative spirit,” says Ewen. “A single sip can take you to the west coast of Scotland, to the rugged hills and the wind-battered beaches, or it can take you up to the rolling hills of the east coast and the barley fields.”
It would be easy to assume that with such a reputation, the industry could largely rest on its laurels. But even as it’s now wrestling with how it can become more sustainable and adapt to changing tastes for cocktails, the rest of the world is snapping at Scotland’s heels. In recent clarks shoes uk years Japanese and Taiwanese distilleries have been producing some excellent whiskies largely distilled in the Scottish tradition (whiskey with an “e” is made in Ireland and the US; when it’s made elsewhere it’s whisky with no “e”). Taking into account newer entrants to the market such as India and New Zealand, as well as efforts in the US to artificially expedite the maturation process with technology, Scotland can’t afford to sit still.
Japan and other countries are producing high-quality whiskies in a similar tradition to Scotch.
“Scotch whisky is probably one of the strongest category brands in existence,” says Christopher Coates, editor of Edinburgh-based Whisky magazine. As Belgium is to chocolate, as Switzerland is to watches, as Germany is to cars, so Scotland is to whisky, he adds.
Future-proofing Scotch
But Scottish distillers don’t just live in the past. Given that whisky needs to mature for a decade or more, they’re accustomed to looking ahead 18, 20, 32 years into the future. Right now, many are thinking about the world not as it is in 2021, but about what it’ll be when the whisky they’re currently putting into casks for maturation comes of age. They know that when the spirit next sees the light of day, we’ll be feeling the effects of climate change more keenly, and the conversation about sustainability will be at the forefront of everything.
Just as it’s changing, the industry is also growing — “it’s boom time,” as Coates puts it. According to the Scotch Whisky Association, 16 new distilleries brooks shoes opened in the country over the past four years, bringing the total to 134. It expects 10 more to come into production in the next year.
With new distilleries come new ideas. Today, people who think anything other than a neat, ice-free dram is sacrilegious are likely to find themselves out of step with a whisky making and drinking culture that’s as much about delighting in new taste discoveries as it is about heritage and upholding tradition.
Graduates of the brewing and distilling course at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh are experimenting with flavor profiles on a molecular level. Ancient grains that were phased out by big distilleries for being low yield are making a comeback. And some micro-distilleries are toying with the idea of introducing vintages rather than aiming for the year-on-year continuity the big dogs are famous for.
Over time, there’s been something of a cyclical boom-and-bust nature to the Scotch whisky industry, says Coates. But in spite of everything that’s been thrown at it — including over the past two years, COVID and tariffs on US imports imposed by Donald Trump (lifted earlier this year by President Joe Biden) — Scotland still sets industry trends, all while maintaining its traditions. Both Coates and Low have noticed that other countries (aside from the US, which has its own unique distilling tradition) tend to build distilleries and shape their regulation in similar ways to Scotland.
“I do sense a lot of them are modeling themselves on Scotch single malt, or they want to make a similar product,” says Low. “And that’s all good. It’s up to our members to raise their game and make sure that people still choose Scotch — and hopefully they will.”
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