I got interviewed over the telephone a couple of weeks ago for an article being written by Graham Holter in the trade publication Off Licence News. Singer KT Tunstall, who used to work in the shop that I now manage, said in a magazine interview that "blended whisky is "sacrilege" and "deserves Coke". As soon as I read the interview with her I knew someone would be on the phone to me asking my views and asking if that was the company I work for's position on blended whiskies.
Now my personal views on blended whisky pretty much echo Ms Tunstall's - ironically! I really am not a fan of the Bells/Grouse/Teachers style of blend, Baillie Nicol Jarvie is pretty tasty, and the Compass Box and Monkey Shoulder brands rock, but mainstream brands just aren't my thing. I'd go a little further to say that if you put certain supermarket own label blended whiskies with Coke, you are ruining a perfectly good Coke! Having said that, blended whisky is a large part of any off licence's business, and there are many people who love these whiskies, and I made that perfectly clear in the interview. For the company I work for, however, malt is the backbone of the whisky business.
On the whole, I've been quoted pretty accurately. I did suggest that the whisky industry target the gay market (although I did say it off the record), I did say that I did say that selling non malt whisky was a challenge, and I did say that I thought Diageo was missing a trick by not making more of sponsoring Lewis Hamilton. What I didn't say was that I absolve myself of any "blame" for training Ms Tunstall! The context with which this is read would indicate that someone else is at fault for her opinions, which is nonsense. If she dislikes blended whiskies, like I do, that is a personal opinion that we are all capable of making ourselves without any external influence.
Oh well, serves me right for going on the record...
Now my personal views on blended whisky pretty much echo Ms Tunstall's - ironically! I really am not a fan of the Bells/Grouse/Teachers style of blend, Baillie Nicol Jarvie is pretty tasty, and the Compass Box and Monkey Shoulder brands rock, but mainstream brands just aren't my thing. I'd go a little further to say that if you put certain supermarket own label blended whiskies with Coke, you are ruining a perfectly good Coke! Having said that, blended whisky is a large part of any off licence's business, and there are many people who love these whiskies, and I made that perfectly clear in the interview. For the company I work for, however, malt is the backbone of the whisky business.
On the whole, I've been quoted pretty accurately. I did suggest that the whisky industry target the gay market (although I did say it off the record), I did say that I did say that selling non malt whisky was a challenge, and I did say that I thought Diageo was missing a trick by not making more of sponsoring Lewis Hamilton. What I didn't say was that I absolve myself of any "blame" for training Ms Tunstall! The context with which this is read would indicate that someone else is at fault for her opinions, which is nonsense. If she dislikes blended whiskies, like I do, that is a personal opinion that we are all capable of making ourselves without any external influence.
Oh well, serves me right for going on the record...
Comments