Because of all the rumors, blog postings, etc., (including my own teaser this past week) on this subject (unauthorized, in many instances), Diageo has given me permission to release this information, officially, one day early.
First, let’s start with the information from the press release:
Diageo launches its first ever complete collection of single-cask malt whiskies
Diageo has announced the launch of its first single-cask collection of single malt Scotch whiskies. This is the first time that Scotland’s biggest estate of single malt distilleries has issued a comprehensive series of single-cask bottlings.
Labelled The Managers’ Choice, the rare limited-edition series is aimed at collectors and connoisseurs who will enjoy owning and exploring an unusual expression of their favourite single malt or even a whole anthology of highly individual single malts, chosen to represent each of 27 distilleries’ distinctive but authentic whisky signature.
The releases are being staged in batches over the next year. September 2009 sees the first release of six malts.
Each distillery is represented in The Managers’ Choice by a bottling of its single malt whisky drawn from one single cask, selected after a careful examination of distillery stocks. The cask was nosed, tasted, discussed and finally chosen as the most distinctive expression of that distillery’s single malts by a judging panel of acknowledged experts, including leading maturation experts and the distillery managers themselves.
In many cases, unusual cask woods will have had their influence on the final result. Perfect maturation and spirit quality have been the criteria, resulting in a bottling that delights with original and sometimes unexpected flavours whilst allowing the distillery character to still shine through.
Depending on the size of the cask and the rate of evaporation over the years since it was filled, the volume of bottles obtained can vary between approximately 600 and as little as 200. These are, consequently, extremely rare and distinctive whiskies.
Once picked, each cask is bottled at its natural cask strength, without chill filtering. Nothing is allowed to affect the natural taste and aromas of the whisky. This means that the liquid the connoisseur pours into his or her glass is exactly as it emerged directly from the cask when it was hand-picked a few months earlier by the experts – it’s as good as a dram drawn from the cask in the warehouse itself.
Diageo whisky specialist Craig Wallace explained the challenge of selecting a single cask for a bottling that will be made available to a discerning and knowledgeable consumer audience: “When you’re selecting casks for a bigger bottling, you can work with a wider variation of maturity, distillery character and wood influence because you can even it out and aim for consistency.
“But when you are bottling a single cask, you can’t do that: you have to get the balance totally right when selecting the cask. And it’s highly unlikely, whatever single cask you choose this time, that you’d ever be able to replicate that precise flavour profile the next time you look for one. So finding a single cask with just the right balance is actually very challenging.”
Classic Malts Selection spokesperson Nick Morgan said: “We have occasionally issued single-cask bottlings of individual single malt whiskies before, for instance for visitors to the annual Islay Festival. And single-cask bottlings of our malts can sometimes be obtained from independent bottlers.
“But this is a much more ambitious venture - the most extensive collection we’ve ever released of single cask malt whisky bottlings, from 27 of our operational malt distilleries, involving both the well-known and those whose product isn’t widely available.
“Each individual distillery cask selected by the experts after an extensive examination has doubly earned its place in The Managers’ Choice, regardless of its age: because it faithfully illuminates that distillery’s individual DNA, and also because it will offer the connoisseur a different, interesting and perhaps unexpected experience of that whisky.”
Full details, including tasting notes, are displayed on the Classic Malts Selection™ website www.malts.com. The new website content includes the story of The Managers’ Choice and the selection process, a “Meet the Managers” page where they talk about The Managers Choice collection & questions related to the world of whisky, whisky tasting notes & audio, Q&A with a Sensory Expert, and details of where to buy the whiskies.
Note: Since this project doesn’t officially kick off until tomorrow, Diageo informed me this morning that the website featuring these whiskies may not be fully operational until then.
Here are the six whiskies in the first release, along with corresponding information on distillation dates, number of bottles, and pricing. (Sadly, these whiskies will NOT be available in the U.S.)
Cardhu™ , distilled 1997, 252 bottles, £250
Glen Elgin™, distilled 1998, 534 bottles, £250
Linkwood™, distilled 1996, 480 bottles, £200
Mortlach™, distilled 1997, 240 bottles, £250
Oban™, distilled 2000, 534 bottles, £300
Teaninich™, distilled 1996, 246 bottles, £200
I spoke with Nick Morgan last week and he was candid with me, telling me that it was very difficult deciding on which cask to pick for each distillery. The nosing team narrowed it down to three different casks for each distillery. Then, the group of nosers, along with the distillery managers and other key individuals, basically debated until coming up with just one pick for each distillery. (I would have liked to been there for that! That would have been fun.)
So, there you have it for now. I WILL be getting review samples of each release, so I’ll let you know my thoughts at that time. If you have any other questions, let me know. I’ll try to get them answered for you.
And please, post up your comments. Diageo is watching…
What a great idea (offer single malts from each of their distilleries) and horrible execution. By going with 1 cask.. they artificially limit the market, drive prices way up.. and the end result will be less than 1/2 of these rare bottles ever being opened and enjoyed.. as the value as a collectible will be far too high.
I am sickened by the thought of producing any whisky that simply isn’t destined to actually be consumed and enjoyed.
John,
I agree it would have been fun to listen to the nosing committee and distillery managers debate over which cask from each distillery’s stock is the most “distinctive expression.” Doubly so since no casks could be mingled. One and done.
Given none of these will be released in the States and the rarity probably puts them outside my price point anyway, I doubt I’ll taste any of these, however I most definately look forward to living vicariously through you and other whisky writers. I’m sure all of you will debate you varying levels of agreement with the committee and managers about these casks being the ultimate taste profile for each distillery. I can hear it now, “I think this has more butterscotch (smokiness, sweetness, sourness, whatever) than I usually associate with Distillery X.”
I very much hope you, Dave, Serge, et.al. pick these drams apart and let us know if these casks are “the ones,” especially for those less well known or unavailable-over-here distilleries.
Few will get to taste but I’m betting many will get to enjoy the conversation.
Thanks,
Steve
I agree with Rick, it is a brilliant idea, but the price tags are absolutely prohibitive, even if these are the distilleries’ finest casks. 300 quid for a 9yo Oban is just out of this world.
Thanks for this, John.
But why the secrecy? Makes Diageo look more like the too-big-for-its-britches company I have perceived for a long time. And, in keeping with Monique at the Dell’s terrific comment in the latest issue of MA, how about allocation of these special issues? Obviously none of the first issue will be in 750ml bottles for the U.S. market. Diageo’s secrecy combined with its typical only-in-the-special-markets attitude make me much less interested in the pending releases. Makes it easy to wonder “who cares?”
Steve, I will be getting review samples, so I’ll let you know what I think.
I understand why Diageo wishes to do this: find the one cask from each distillery that best expresses that distillery. By definition a single cask of each at this quality will produce expensive bottles.
The next step may be to take those other casks that didn’t quite make it, mingle, and get something out there for those of us with fewer means to enjoy and then debate ourselves from first hand experience.
I can see Diageo doing this again in ten or so years. Find another set of ultimate casks to compare against the first.
In order to produce enough to allocate some to each region at a price most could afford these expressions couldn’t be single cask. Mingling defeats the purpose of the release, however I hope a follow on allows the rest of us to join the discussion.
Steve
Yes guys, you do have a point here. If this is a one-time deal, it’s a pretty exclusive party–one in which most of us will not be part of.
I can see those collecters out there already, lining up to get one bottle from each distillery, so they can display it on some wall somewhere, unopened. Let’s hope they buy two and share one with friends. And lets hope some of those friends are you!
Maybe if they did this once a year, alternating 700 and 750ml bottlings. That way, every other year the bottlings go to the U.S. market. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?
No, it wouldn’t be nice; it’s way above the point at which the cost makes the pleasure go away. I don’t make that kind of money, and if I did I’d just go to one of those companies which picks good casks anyway.
Anticlimax: a bunch of four and five hundred dollar bottles which you can’t get in the states and will mostly show up on the speculator and auction sites, unloved, unopened, out of reach. This is quite a disappointment.
I thought Glen Wonka was a joke!
I love cask strength whiskies, but I don’t spend that kind of money on a bottle without tasting it first – which outside of John’s tastings and friends’ collections isn’t easy.
We’ve had distiller’s edition, now manager’s choice, so what’s next? Sovereign’s Decree (at 1000 GBP a bottle)?
But in all seriousness, I can’t begrudge Diageo trying to expand their product line to take advantage of a growing appetite among the well-off to pay more for a more exclusive version of a distillery’s production. It would be completely different if Diageo ceased selling the standard expressions in an attempt to force consumers up the value chain. That would be silly from a business perspective anyway.
I’ve discussed the prizing of these bottles with enthusiasts in Norway and none of them would even consider buying any of these bottlings. The prizes are, well… how should I say it, ridicolous. I bet there is some economist that have found out that the earnings are better when selling low volumes of young whiskies for insance prizes rather than selling a large volume at reasonable prizes.
I’m not even considering buying any of these bottlings. What is the point of presenting the full range when only a small minority can afford the cost? I believe it is ridicolous and an joke or perhaps an insult to whisky enthusiasts.
Anyone who has seen seen an add for the Franklin Mint on the Shopping Channel is familiar with the very tacky, trashy, and nonspecific marketing strategy that Diageo is using.
It is ironic that all the hot air about selecting absolutely & simply the best and most distinctive casks from a nosing/drinking angle is intended only to inflate the image of the bottles as not-to-be-drunk collectibles.
[...] The prices for the “Manager’s Choice” series will go far beyond that. Here is a list of prices for the fist released batch, taken from What Does John Know?: [...]
sad move. i think too.
charging 250 GBP for a few hundred bottles will surely make them available only to a very limited audience, and prices will go higher. collection is nice, but one should enjoy whiskey and taste it. and i am also afraid most of them will stay on the shelves of collectors and never be enjoyed.
all the fuss, and the secrecy for nothing. brilliant campaign by diageo, but one i wont take part in.
Well, having just tasted all 26 Flora and Fauna (non cask strength) bottlings at the Dell in August and working with others to do the same with all the Rare Malts Collection I can see some of us, banding together as a collective, buying the entire entire collection and then sampling them together either at The Dell or at Whiskyfest in Chicago. Otherwise, I am with most of the comments – Might by a select bottle here and there but that is about it for me.
I agree with all of you, but there’s one thing the inventor(s) of this “fun plan” think(s) and that is that Diageo with it’s(or is it his or her’s) distilleries will sell all these aforementioned bottles to other people then you here above, because they know there will always be people who would like to buy “such an attractive, irresistible offer”.
Irritating, but very true I think.
These prices are realy ridiculous!
Another example of how wonderful a jewel Monique’s Dundee Dell is. If I ever have to return to Omaha, a Dell visit is absolutely required.
Excellent comments from all the responders! What I would love to see John do when he gets his tasting samples is to compare the expensive single cask to a reasonably priced regular bottling so as to determine if the extra 200 – 300 GBP difference has any real value for consumption as opposed to collecting. My personal feeling is that this whole effort is for publicity and not to satisfy our tastebuds.
I don’t really have an issue with Diageo doing this. Why wouldn’t they experiment with this type of release to gauge the high-end market and get some publicity? If they’re way off the mark, the open market will make that clear. Like Quentin said, as long as they don’t subtract from their standard collections to fund this one, I’m fine with it.
Am I disappointed that this big surprise I’ve been waiting to hear about is something i can’t take part in? Yes.
Do I feel somehow entitled to have access to every whisky offering? No.
It’s the same with many other “enthusiast” products…cameras, watches, stereo equipment, cars, etc.
So, I’ll watch the reviews with interest, to see what people have to say about these “best representations” of each distillery. I’m also with Cary in terms of being interested in comparisons to standard products.
In the mean time, I’ll go buy something more affordable like a Beltramos HP single cask. Lots of options out there…
A release that is simply irrelevant to us common folk. I can live with that, but it’s looking like the hype, which Diageo intends to make us all drool, is backfiring. It only seems to highlight how little they care about us peons. After all, they could easily bottle an ongoing series of single-cask whiskies from all of their distilleries, at prices that would reflect the smaller scale of what they were doing, while still being attainable to average enthusiasts; while at the same time encouraging consumption, comparison, and discussion, rather than collection. Wouldn’t it be really cool if someone would do that? Ah wait, someone does–they’re called independent bottlers. Seems to me that’s worthy of support.
One follow-up comment regarding “hype.” Of course Diageo is going to market the hell out of this stuff. I expect no less. What I WOULD like to see is a measured approach from the journalists.
Not in any way to disrespect John, as I love his magazine and this blog, but a headline like “Very special news about Diageo’s malt whiskies” can get us common folk pumped up, only to be let down when it turns out to be a limited, super premium collector’s release.
By all means, cover the release, give us the insider details, and review the samples. Just please dole out the “something special is coming…” teasers cautiously.
Thanks,
Jeff
Well Jeff, I feel I must defend myself here. All I said in my previous post was that there was going to be “Special News”. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “special” as “distinguished by some unusual quality.” I never said the news was good or bad. That’s for each of you to decide. But I understand the point you’re trying to make.
“Oban™, distilled 2000, 534 bottles, £300″
Really, nine year old whisky for £300. I can understand the high price of a malt which has been aged for a long time, but the fact that the youngest of this bunch, with the most available bottles, is also the most expensive seems strange.
I also posted up this information on my Facebook account and already have many comments. Here are the ones I have so far. I left off the individual names.
“The price level is insulting. I am now officially boycoting Diageo and all their products. Guess i had my last Guiness”
“300 pounds for a 9 year old Oban? Really? In this economy, simply insulting.”
“Indead: ridiculous prices! Diageo apparantly thinks everything with the label “single cask” and “limited or very limited” can be sold at any price. No thanks, Diageo!”
“Hi John, I would be really interested to know what you think about this. I am not a publisher and only a part-time journalist, but as a drinker, bottler, retailer and a huge fan of whisky I am outraged and quite frankly it is another nail in Diageo’s coffin. Their ignorance, arrogance and contempt for malt whisky drinkers astounds me. I hope to see these bottles on the shelves of the selected few stockists for many years to come, decades in fact, until inflation has brought their price tag in line with their worth. I hope to see bottles from this range on auction sites going for £40 from Diageo employees who pick them up for £15 in staff sales. I hope no-one buys these whiskies and perhaps Diageo will get the message.”
“well between 200 and 400 bottels of each cask; it will be sold in the World, there are enough people who have the money and are willed to spend it.”
“Sadly. You are right – although I urge them to go elsewhere for their whisky. There are plenty of independent bottlers (without trying to promoting myself here) that have a much longer history than Diageo in selecting single cask bottlings, and a better track record and are a fifth – no, a tenth of the price.”
“Concerning the cask selection, well they have a huge stock
and luckly enough I am quite positive that not only the managers have selected the casks, but the skilled people from their lab and blending team. So for sure the quality will be undisputed. Concerning the price I absolutely agree, I will personally prefer to less expensive bottles to one of those. And we will see how the market reacts, in Germany for example the Rare Malts were like lead in (most) shelves…”
“I guess I will NOT feature these on whiskysamples.eu…too expensive…damn”
“It would appear that post-Kilmarnock Diageo have decided that nobody likes them anyway and have stopped pretending to care.”
“Those prices are ridiculous. I love to buy single cask/cask strength whiskies. If you can’t be at the distillery popping out the bung, this is as close as it gets. I paid $80 or so for the Lagavulin 12 year old cask and thought it was an excellent whiskey, but paying $20 more than the 16 year old seemed a bit much, until I tasted it. I am glad I bought it. These? I just can’t see spending that much on those whiskies of that age.”
“Big Marketing. See a lot of videos at malts.com. Terrible price
But … I’m crazy and hot to get a Dram of them…. especially from the Mortlach. Is there nobody who feels nervous about the new Casks ??? I don’t by one. Or do I ? No I don’t. No ! No ! Maybe ? No !”
For years, we have been hearing that only the official bottlings reflect the true character of the distillery (as opposed to the independent bottlings, many of them single cask). Now Diageo tells us that they have they have looked long and hard to discover single casks that ‘faithfully illuminates that distillery’s individual DNA’. So what about the rest of the casks in the warehouses? And if there are so few of these casks, how do we know that they are right, and the others wrong? Anything to make an extra buck, make that a few hundred quid, I guess.
All,
I still see this release as a positive, especially if it primes the pump for future releases of single malts from each of these distilleries is most markets.
I never get to taste any of the expensive scotch releases outside of something special like WhiskyFest but that’s okay, I’m not entitled to any bottle by any distiller simply because I love whisky. I choose to spend my $350-$500 elsewhere and that’s my choice. The laws of supply and demand apply and Diageo, like any other for-profit distiller, isn’t a charity and has a responsibility to get the best price it can for its limited supplies. As a shareholder I’d be pretty upset if my company was releasing limited stocks on the cheap. As a car enthusiast I wish Ferrari would release a top end car for the price of a Ford Fusion (or even at Ferrari’s manufacturing cost) but I know that won’t happen. I still read auto magazines and enjoy them even though I can’t own or drive these cars, same as I read whisky publications’ reviews of whiskies I’ll never even nose.
Diageo releasing a 9yo Oban from a single cask doesn’t impact my ability to run down the street and pick up a bottle of standard 14yo. I’d like to taste what comes from the “special” 9yo cask to compare but supplies just won’t allow all of us to do that. I’m not a collector and open and consume all my purchases, but I understand those who may invest. Car collectors realize every mile decreases a car’s value. Some enjoy driving and take the financial hit; others admire without turning the key.
I’m more into bourbon, which is a fraction of the scotch market, and so I’m able to pick up “expensive” single barrel and limited release bourbons, like Woodford’s limited releases, AH Hirsch, and the BT Antiques, for roughly four to five times what a regular bottle goes for. Same seems to apply here with Diageo’s pricing of these new bottles over standard pricing, but since the starting point is higher than bourbon we get sticker shock over the limited releases.
As for Diageo artificially limiting this release, I have to disagree. A cask is a cask and a single cask holds only so much liquid. As to the “secrecy,” Diageo hires marketing people who know how to get people talking about something new. We are doing so today so their marketing decision has worked so far. Apple sometimes holds product announcements for its big convention. People love Apple (although some may gripe when Apple drops prices on a gadget after they’ve already purchased). Whisky enthusiasts have some qualms about Diegeo’s power but both companies know how to market and I doubt neither is sinister in its respective campaigns. I look forward to reviews from John and others who will get to sample these casks and will let us know if they really are superior to regular offerings to warrant such pricing.
Would I buy any of these bottles at these prices if they were available in the States? Likely not, but I still have to applaud Diageo for adding to the whisky universe’s diversity and not impacting my ability to enjoy their more modest offerings. Instead of being disappointed this offering is out of reach, let Diageo know you would support special small batch (to borrow a bourbon phrase) single malt offerings from these distilleries at a smaller premium over the standard offerings. If the market is brisk for today’s announcement it may lead to better selection for the rest of us.
Steve
Thanks John. Again, I didn’t mean any disrespect, and it wasn’t an emotional rant against your post or anything. I just took the liberty of using it as an example to make a general point about how I’d like to see this kind of release treated by independent journalists.
“Special” may technically mean “unusual”, but people tend to use that word to mean something more. “I’m bringing a special dessert to the dinner party” would typically be used to imply that it’s going to be a treat, and some level of extra satisfaction is to be had by the participants. Not just that it’s going to be “different.”
Regards,
Jeff
Nice one Diageo! Arrogant, out of touch, just-for-profit monster. They really should stick to blends only. Proves they are not part of the malt whisky world and ignorant of the single malt enthusiasts.
Interesting choice for first release; only Talisker and Benrinnes missing from their First Class malts and of course Caol Ila & Lagavulin…
Can’t wait to see young Dailuaine, Glen Ord and Auchriosk at £200+ or maybe they will only be £100 or £150!?
They should have released a series of different aged single casks from Talisker, Lagavulin and Oban only at reasonable prices for all markets – now that would be really worth talking about.
It’s interesting to watch all of the hostility oozing out here…seems to me it’s all about expectations. After all, this is not the first release of expensive one-off bottlings anyone’s ever produced. I think people resent having something like this waved in front of their noses, when they know they can’t afford it. Yeah, a little more discretion would go a long way. I normally don’t have any problem ignoring things that aren’t really marketed at me, but if they’re going to run these things up the flagpole in such a public way, they oughtn’t to be surprised when the returned salute is largely monodigital.
Something struck me a little while ago while I was reading the news section of That Other Magazine. A distillery’s latest release (not one of Diageo’s) was touted as being that make’s “oldest and most exclusive”. I see that word, “exclusive”, a lot in the press releases–it’s obviously meant to mean rare and precious. But if you think about it, what it literally means is that it excludes people. Why are we expected to see that as a virtue? Am I supposed to celebrate being excluded?
I look forward to hearing about some more inclusive whisky. After all, whisky is supposed to be about conviviality and fellowship.
Mr. TH: Well spoken, my friend. As I commented earlier, it would have been nice if they offered this annually (at a lower price), with alternating years going to the U.S. at 750ml. That would make this announcement more embracing, and more “inclusive.”
To be absolutely, perfectly honest, I’m getting used to hearing hype about new whiskies I could never afford.
This news just falls into the category of “Yet another overpriced whisky.”
There’s just so much else I could spend my money on from necessities to charities that paying even $200 for a bottle of Scotch is as much the same to me as paying $1000.
If the big news is that giant Scotch conglomerates are out of touch with their market, then it’s hardly news, now, is it?
I’ve absorbed these posts twice and again.
Did John let Diageo use him to create the hype?
You’re right, Neil, news this ain’t.
And, Steve, bourbon distillers don’t do this. Why would they?
I go back to my original post: who cares? Clearly many do. But why? Why is the release of limited edition single malt (Scotch) whiskies such an emotional topic? As a drinker, promoter, and educator — not a collector — I’ll never get it. Nor will I ever taste it, not at these prices.
The best that could happen is for all these bottles to sit, bored and unwanted, in warehouses around the world. Too bad that likely won’t happen.
I have to say I don’t see this in a negative light either; I think MrTH summed this up better than I could on my phone right now… Overall, it’s probably a good sign and indication of the healthy (hyped/trendy?) scotch market right now. I’d much rather see more of these announcents than ones pointing towards a decline in the popularity of scotch in the wider market – and the closure of distilleries which would accompany this – and would ultimately impact scotch drinkers of all budgets.
Granted, this is very expensive for something essentially identical to the offerings of IBs, but it will appeal to someone – just not me. I’d rather get similar bottlings of similar quality from the SMWS for less!
Slainte!
I got very excited as I read this announcement until I saw the distillation dates. This is almost as silly as Preiss Imports and their $1500 release of the A.H. Hirsch 16 year.
Two bit, the reason people take this personally is because a buyer develops a certain relationship with a company whose product he/she is passionate about. We understand they are making a profit but the enjoyment we get from the product makes up for it. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. But trying to sell us a 9 year whiskey for $500 is not mutually beneficial. The deal is so far in their favor we can’t believe they are even offering it. And because they are, it sends the message that they think we’re a bunch of dumb suckers.
Hi there,
one question that moves me is: What is the intent of a series like this?
Some where expecting a follow up for the Rare Malts.
But what they do is lifting some single cask bottlings, some not even in their early teens to the level of the Special Releases and beyond.
What does that mean to further pricing of Diageo products it they get away with it?
They gave some of their distillery managers a nd whisky specialists a few days off to make merry with a few pre-selected casks.
From their press release:
Each distillery is represented in The Managers’ Choice by a bottling of its single malt whisky drawn from one single cask, selected after a careful examination of distillery stocks. The cask was nosed, tasted, discussed and finally chosen as the most distinctive expression of that distillery’s single malts by a judging panel of acknowledged experts, including leading maturation experts and the distillery managers themselves.
In many cases, unusual cask woods will have had their influence on the final result. Perfect maturation and spirit quality have been the criteria, resulting in a bottling that delights with original and sometimes unexpected flavours whilst allowing the distillery character to still shine through.
Depending on the size of the cask and the rate of evaporation over the years since it was filled, the volume of bottles obtained can vary between approximately 600 and as little as 200.These are, consequently, extremely rare and distinctive whiskies.
Once picked, each cask is bottled at its natural cask strength. Nothing is allowed to affect the natural taste and aromas of the whisky.
This means that the liquid the connoisseur pours into his or her glass is exactly as it emerged directly from the cask when it was hand-picked a few months earlier by the experts – it’s as good as a dram drawn from the cask in the warehouse itself.
I do not care about the single casks and their individual quality as there are thousands more of equal qualitty or better sitting in the warehouses or central whisky belt.
The one question that intersts me is howm they came to the pricing of the series and why I as a customer should pay for the holidays Diageos whisky expert had???
The whole thing is ridiculous because the execution contradicts the intent. Showing the distillery charakter of 27 distilleries is a good idea – but showing it to whom?
Diageo wants to feel out if there is a market for very expensive single cask bottlings of about 10-15 yo? Fine. But without consulting expensive advisors we could have told them that this market is small.
The whole thing ist as elitist as Macallan Rankin on a little lesser scale, though.
What Diageo fails to do is to make plausible why the touch of a few managers elevates a single cask from a certain distillery to unknown heights.
And what about all those casks managers never come to touch – are they all inferior and have to be bottled as blend components???
I already mentioned on several forums/blogs my opinion regarding the pricing: unless these bottles are fabulous whiskies (e.g., like the Glen Garioch 9YO 1971 Samaroli Cask Strength), the price is not justified in comparison to single cask bottlings by indepedendant bottlers. In addition, at the Feis Ile, single cask lagavulin or Caol Ila are sold for £60-70 by Diageo. As part of the Manager’s choice, single casks from these distilleries will be probably around £200-300? How can the consumer understand the strategy of Diageo?
Interestingly, as mentioned this morning by Serge at http://www.whiskyfun.com, the new range is limited to Germany, UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Not too suprisingly, since these are good test markets (countries with a high number of Super Permium buyers). If Diageo will not succeed in selling their products in those countries, then they will have to revise their strategy since it will be even more difficult to sell them elswhere.
Since they are single cask bottlings, they are bottled on special chains and filling bottles both at 70cl and 75cl would have not been convenient.
I like the idea of Diageo of offering Single Cask bottlings, but why haven’t they started that earlier. However, they should have proposed them at a more decent price. With the current price, a cask of Glen Elgin would then worth about £134,000: liquid gold?
Diageo is releasing some excellent single malts whiskies,I had always very good contact with the staff working in their distilleries, but in terms of Press Release and communication, they are awful, as demonstrated by this “Manager’s choice” case.
Since I am free and haven’t received any confidential information from Diageo,I could afford to release the information about the new Manager’s choice earlier than Malt Advocate and whiskyfun.
I have tried other the last years to contact Diageo Switzerland and UK to receive their PR, but I never received any answer from Diageo.
Like me, I think that many whisky enthusiasts and consumer are puzzled by the Diageo policy and communication.
@John, since you are in good terms with Dr N.Morgan, could you please invite him for a chat on your blog to answer questions from the bloggers?
Wow…this has to be THE news item for whisky 2009.
It’s puzzling, given this new collection from Diageo is of little consequence to its overall profit. Something more fundamental is going on here. Think about it: the total number of bottles (<12,000?) is simply too small, comparable to a single, larger-than-average special release (plus a lot more overhead). Nothing when considering a net profit of $3.2B in 2008 (with an eye-popping ROE of 38%).
Clearly this is much more about (re?)positioning in a changing market, or, rather, reshaping the market. A cynic might argue Diageo is trying to push the luxury (exclusivity) persona of single malts very hard while banking on larger high-end volume at the same time. If so, it is a rather tricky balancing act. This new series would appeal to collectors and new money from BRIC countries, but it is not marketed word-wide. Although the grumbling from consuming aficionados is already loud with charges of gouging and perceived changes in quality definitions, I suspect a good number of them too will find this irresistible.
What's new in this case is the speed with which they're pushing a considerable number of distinct bottles onto the market. The notion this would be a "one off" if it turns out to be successful is not credible; hopefully it will not accelerate the trend of ever increasing numbers of “special” “rare” “limited” products swamping the future market. This all raises a lot of question about the medium/long term strategy of large distillery owners (new market creation) and the future of single malts.
It’ll be really interesting to watch how the market (and secondary market!) behaves and to read the reviews from those lucky enough to sample. Maybe we’ll get some answers then.
Two-bit, Jeff H., I’m afraid I brought a lot of this hype on myself, inadvertantly.
When Diageo sent me the “embargoed” press release a week ago, they asked me to not post anything until today. I was the one who asked them if I could post a teaser up on my blog ahead of time.
I did this so we could have a little fun and see if all of you could guess what their new announcement was going to be. What I DIDN”T know, whas that everyone else and their brother was going to leak out the information early. So, instead of a fun “guessing game”, it turned into everyone posting links of the information that was leaked out prematurely.
I will also say that, while I had all this information for a week, it came to me in several different attachments and I didn’t really take a look at the pricing until yesterday morning, when I was preparing my blog posting. I was just as surprised as all of you with the prices of the whiskies. I expected them to be higher than normal, because of the time and effort put into this by Diageo, but I didn’t expect whiskies that young to be priced that highly.
I think Diageo learned a valuable lesson here in PR: Embargoed press releases just don’t work. All you need is one person to prematurely leak out the information. When this happens, it spreads like wildfire and suddenly the whole world knows.
I know that Diageo is reading this blog posting with great interest. I will ask Nick Morgan if he wants jump into the Lion’s Den here and explain Diageo’s logic behind this.
I agree with Mr TH, we need more inclusive bottlings, not exclusive.
The care taken in the production and presentation of these MAY justify the price, I couldn’t possibly comment!
The Manager’s Choice is not a new concept. From the old DCL days, each manager was asked to submit a sample of their finest cask to a tasting panel and the winner of this tasting competition was the Manager’s Dram for that year and the cask was bottled for a gift to the managers and for use by the group’s managers’ entertaining. These bottles have started to appear in auctions over the past 20 years and achieve prices surprisingly similar to those given for the latest launch.
I wonder where Diageo’s marketeers got the idea?
Hi there,
the idea is taken form independent bottlers.
The “Imperial Class” of malt whiskies are the single cask cask strength non chill-filtered natural colour bottlings which are of course all limited editions.
Cadenhead is very successful with their black-tubed Authentic Collection.
Diageo being Diageo had to go one up of course with a managerial tasting panel etc.
It is no secret that the industry is not overly pleased with independent bottlings notwithstanding what they have done for the sector of single malts.
So Diageo has done everything right. Cask strength, no tampering, singel casks… but where did they get the pricing idea???
Thank you John H.,
I think that Diageo should start to be more interactive with their customers. In this respect, they are quite deficient and might learn from their smaller competitors. I hope that Nick will accept the invitation.
Hi John
An excellent piece. Nice work.
We’ve put our thoughts here:
http://caskstrength.blogspot.com/2009/09/choice-fm.html
For us basically boils down the the fact that we’ll stick with the Lagavulin and Caol Ila Feis Ile bottlings from this years festival, over buying the Managers Choice (even if we did have the money to do so!). For starters, we got to try the Festical Bottlings before we forked out on them, so knew what we were buying was excellent. Secondly, The Caol Ila was a single cask 12 Year Old, hand selected by Billy Stitchell, but was retailing at a sensible price (£70). The Lagavulin continued the fantastic FI Single Cask Bottlings which started in 2007 and also came at a much more affordable price point.
It seems like the pricing structure of these Managers Choices has been influenced by the old Managers Drams bottlings, which now go for silly money. One wonders, after so much care and attention in choosing the contents; will they ever be opened?
I totally agree with the comments above: we need more INCLUSIVE whisky not EXCLUSIVE whisky. I do applaud Diageo for their commitment to Festival Bottlings (not withstanding the “hoovers” who turn up and bulk buy in order to flog at huge profit on-line) as it is nice to be rewarded for making the journey to the distilleries and to come away from wonderful events like the Feis Ile with a momento which, at £70ish quid a pop you don’t feel bad at drinking!
Slainte!
Joel
Just one small note – I noticed that the press release does not specifically state that it is uncolo(u)red – are they coloring it or avoiding the negative pregnant that most of their other bottlings are?
Joel, at Caskstrength, I am surprised you think £70.00 is a “sensible” price for a 12 yr old Caol Ila single cask at the Festival.
There are older Independent single casks of Caol Ila available at under £50 and when it comes to Caol Ila you would be hard pressed to find a bad cask.
Similar argument re new Smokehead 18yr old “super premium”. This is vatted Caol Ila and selling at £80, just for fancy packaging…
Sleeping Warrior, FWIW the Caol Ila festival bottle wasn’t just the first official single cask bottling, it was also the first ever official sherried Caol Ila. £70 was more than I had envisioned paying but when I tasted it I couldn’t get my wallet out quick enough, which very rarely happens for me. One of the best bottlings of the festival, and I have to say that I preferred it to the Lagavulin effort (although that was good whisky as well).
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that beauty (or, in this vase, value) is in the eye of the beholder. As Serge mentioned on whiskyfun, if these really are stunning whiskies they may be worth the money. If they aren’t they won’t sell. Ultimately, the market will decide.
It would be a brave move for Diageo to risk their rep charging silly money for rubbish young whiskies, my guess is that most of these will be very good or great drams. They simply have to be, as the people who DO fork out for them are not the kind of customers that any company wants to piss off.
Cheers Tim F, I appreciate your comments. But the mark up could never be justified on quality alone. No very good or great single cask is 6 times better than an average cask. I know this is subjective and as you say demand will prove the point but maybe John’s tasting and score will help with this argument when they are compared to similar Independent casks on the market.
Sleeping Warrior, to say that ‘No very good or great single cask is 6 times better than an average cask’ is a controversial assertion to say the least. I have tasted casks (both bottled and in situ at several distilleries) that are many times better than the average cask.
Of course, as you say, it is all subjective. If an average cask is 65-70/100 than obviously it is impossible for another cask to be 420/100. That is why I don’t use ratings. But there are certain drams I have had (for example, from Port Ellen) that I would say I have definitely enjoyed more than six times more than an average Port Ellen (and, as I’m sure you already know, there are a great many of the latter and very few of the former).
In all fairness, it has to be noted that value has nothing to do with age or quality (at least not directly). It’s what the market will bear. Diageo apparently believes that there are at least 534 people out there who will be willing to pay £300 for the Oban, 9 years old or not. They’re probably right, and I really don’t have any problem with that. It simply has nothing to do with me. The dissonance here is that this is being billed as an event of great impact, when in fact it has a very, very narrow scope. The only thing it seems to have done for those in the greater marketplace is p*ss them off. “Let them drink Red.”
I’ve noted in the past that having a $5,000 bottle of Glen Googly 40yo in the shop gives the customer something to drool over and dream about, whereupon he buys the standard 10yo, a tiny piece of the mystique that he can afford. The 40yo bottle is, in a sense, worth more sitting there unsold than it would be if it were purchased. If that’s what Diageo is aiming at with this line, it would appear they’ve missed the mark.
[...] John Hansell breaks the bad news that these whiskies will not be available in the U.S. (WTF?) [...]
Still enjoying the various thoughts and ideas here.
I contrast these posts with the wonderful discussion when Willie Tait asked us (malt lovers) to name the 2009 limited editions Jura would bottle. I don’t recall anyone being p*ssed off, and emotionalism showed itself only in the form of excitement.
I experience the same contrast in my personal communications with Isle of Jura distillery and Diageo. The Jura folks always “answer the mail” and consistently offer terrific information and support materials. Diageo (classicmalts.com) doesn’t have a “contact us” email address, and the young man who answers their “customer service” phone line seems to grudgingly take my question and contact info, but I never hear from anyone.
Inasmuch as I’d add my invitation to the Diageo guru to chime in here, I’d much rather have ongoing access to the individual Diageo distilleries or at the very least their U.S. regional Master of Malts. Alas, he doesn’t answer the mail, either.