Scotch whisky distilleries seem unfazed by Brexit

As the United Kingdom and the European Union fought bitterly these past three years over the terms on which the island nation would leave the bloc, a dozen new Scotch Whisky distilleries opened in Scotland.Despite concerns over the impact of Brexit on the scotch whisky industry – the EU is the largest single market for scotch whisky – Scottish distilleries seem unfazed by UK officially leaving the EU on Friday.

"Scottish whisky industry has proved itself to be a very robust industry," said David Brown, managing director at John Crabbie & Company, which recently revived a single malt distillery in Edinburgh."We will see what the politicians decide fairly soon we hope," he added. "But in the meantime, we are just getting on with producing scotch whisky because we know the demand globally, not just in Europ is growing rapidly."

Scotland exported over 4 billion pounds (5.2 billion US dollars) worth of Scotch Whisky worldwide in 2018 according to the Scotch Whisky Association. The EU represents 30% of that market in value, followed by the United States which has 27%.But demand in China, India and other markets in Asia is growing.

Added to this is a trend to drink less, but drink higher quality spirits. Single Malt scotch can be aged up to 50 years and sell for much more per bottle. In some economies drinking scotch whisky is also seen as a symbol status.

Still, being able to continue trading smoothly with geographically much closer European countries is vital to the industry.

"We have no desire to see tariffs being applied to say French wine and we would like to think that they have no desire to see tariffs applied to Scotch Whisky. So, as long as we all proceed on that basis, that should be fine," Brown said remaining positive about the future trading with the EU.

With Brexit out of the way whisky industry leaders have been pushing officials in the UK to renegotiate a 25% tariff imposed by the U.S. on EU luxury goods in October which slammed Scotch whisky. The move followed a dispute between the bloc and the Americans over subsidies given to Airbus and Boeing.

The heads of the Scotch Whisky Association and its American counterpart, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States called onto the end of the tariffs on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2018, Scotland exported over 1 billion UK pounds in scotch whisky to the US.

"It is worrying," admitted Graham Blaikie, treasurer of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association.

"In Scotland, there are about 10-11,000 people employed in the whisky industry but a lot of the whisky distilleries are small communities tucked away in rural areas," he explained. "So with the politicians using it as political football, I hope they can put it at their feet and sort it and fix it."

Scotch whisky also attracts foreigners from across the globe. Around 2 million people visit the 130 Scottish distilleries annually, mostly tourists."I'd like to think that in this day and age with technology, people can cross the borders still very efficiently and without much hassle," said Blaikie who also owns a bar and grill serving 200 different whiskies."I certainly love it when tourists come in here."

(Image Credit: AP)