[MM-MALTS-L] another point of view

[Ron Smith]

Hi all

A friend, who I won't name, but is somewhat more business minded despite 
being a passionate malt drinker, has presented another point of view to 
me below:

"In terms of impact to Scotland - any business which has a Scottish 
heritage and seek to relocate investment out of scotland elsewhere is a 
bad thing.  I am struggling to see the real impact on the whisky 
industry specifically though (aside from the generic de-investment 
aspects given above).

i.e. JW is, in reality, not recognised for the quality it brings.  It is 
at best a very well recognised brand and as such more of a commercial 
vehicle.  If this is the case, then any commercial advantage gained by 
investing in somewhere cheaper than Scotland could be argued to help the 
brand grow globally.

I'm obviously being devils advocate deliberately here so I can get 
insight into the impact of the 'real' malt whisky industry this brings."


Most of which would be true anyway and, according to the Diageo website, 
  it is not a case of industry being moved OUT of Scotland, just 
elsewhere within Scotland. Job losses being offset by job creation 
elsewhere to a large extent. I hasten to add, I am not convinced and I 
still believe that a company that bases a large part of its profit by 
marketing an afherence to a commitment to tradition, should at the very 
least show some adherence to tradition if they are not to be nothing 
more than just a brand. We'll see.

Slainte
Ron