Time for a roundup of a few of the latest headlines from the world of whisky. First, the Daily Express has taken a break from its obsessive and always inaccurate weather predictions to report that an American lawyer is about to launch legal action against drinks firms such as Diageo, in order to win compensation for property owners. This is all due to a fungus called “whisky black”, which strikes buildings located near distilleries:
“William F McMurry, who has already filed a similar lawsuit against five distillers in Kentucky, predicted the bill could run into hundreds of millions of pounds. He has had samples of whisky black from Bonnybridge in Stirlingshire and Tullibody in Clackmannanshire flown to Canada for testing and insists there is a “rock solid” link to the whisky industry.”
Secondly, Pernod Ricard, owner of huge whisky brands such as The Glenlivet and Chivas has proven yet again that whisky is a growing industry, not surprisingly thanks to new markets in Asia:
“Growth of Chivas was driven by strong performances in Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. Premium brand Ballantine’s recorded stable sales figures, with strong results in Eastern Europe and Latin America countered by a sharp decline in Spain “in a very difficult Scotch category”. Pernod said The Glenlivet performed well in Asia and key mature markets such as the US, Taiwan and the UK.”
That might explain why BenRiach is looking for action in Mongolia, of all places:
“BenRiach Distillery Company managing director Bill Walker is to hold tastings in the central Asian country as part of a trade mission next week.Mr Walker said there were opportunities worldwide for the Scotch whisky industry, which had entered “a golden age”.”
Seems a good time to buy Google shares, and leverage them for some shares in these companies, if you ask me…
