Up next in 10
How do you build a successful distillery when it doesn't generate a single penny for 10 years? City AM's Rupert Hargreaves sits down with the CEO of Artisanal Spirits, Andrew Dane, to find out how the organisation keeps the whisky market liquid - and how it's diversifying its business in the hospitality space.
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0:00
Cheers. Thank you very much for your
0:01
time today.
0:02
>> Cheers. Thanks for coming.
0:03
>> So, uh, what's this one?
0:06
Have
0:06
>> you ever heard of a teaspooned whiskey?
0:08
>> Teaspooned.
0:08
>> T whiskey. So, um, part of the industry
0:12
is built on trade and some brands, some
0:15
particularly the older distilleries are
0:16
very protective about their brand name.
0:18
>> So, Balveni, well, Grants haven't sold a
0:21
cask called Balveni for a long time.
0:24
>> Okay. But what they can do is they they
0:28
are open to selling some of the liquid.
0:31
But to be a single malt, it must be all
0:33
the whiskey from the single distillery.
0:35
So what they do is they take a single
0:36
teaspoon of Glenfidic and just put it in
0:39
the top of the cask.
0:40
>> Yeah.
0:41
>> Now that's a blended malt. It tastes
0:43
exactly like but you can't call it that.
0:46
Can't call it a single malt. You can't
0:47
use the brand name.
0:48
>> So this just has one teaspoon.
0:50
>> One teaspoon in a whole cask. So it
0:52
tastes exactly like you would expect
0:55
from the original distillery, [music]
0:57
>> but it's a blended malt. And that's the
0:59
sort of thing that societyy's brilliant
1:00
for because we don't care about the
1:02
name. We don't care about what it people
1:04
are expecting. [music] It's does it
1:06
taste great? Is it single? Is it
1:09
blendable? Is it? So this is a perfect
1:10
example of something. You [music]
1:12
>> can't say what you can't say what
1:13
distillery that is from.
1:14
>> Distillery 40
1:16
which [laughter] for anyone who has
1:18
Google is Balveni.
1:20
>> Yeah. But it's not a balveni because
1:22
it's a blended mold.
1:24
>> Um, but it tastes absolutely cracking.
1:27
So, [laughter]
1:28
>> it's a great place to start
1:29
>> indeed. Cheers.
1:30
>> Cheers.
1:36
[music]
1:39
>> I'm here with uh Andrew Dame, CEO of the
1:42
Artisal Spirits Company. Yeah.
1:44
>> Listed on AIM. And we are here in the
1:47
members room in Farington.
1:50
>> Yeah.
1:51
Um, thank you.
1:52
>> Yeah, it's always always a pleasure to
1:53
come here, pleasure to talk whiskey, but
1:55
it's more fun to actually have a drram.
1:57
>> Yeah, exactly. And and tonight you're
1:59
hosting your is it annual or is the
2:01
second one you've been doing the
2:02
>> Yeah, I mean the society has done Burns
2:04
nights for a long time and actually
2:06
going back the Society in London quite
2:08
often held events at the Crypt where
2:10
tonight's event's going to be, but it's
2:12
the long time since we've had an event
2:13
this big. There's 110 people coming
2:15
tonight to the crypt and I've never been
2:18
but by all accounts it's a stunning
2:19
venue. So
2:20
>> 600y old crypt. Second oldest church in
2:22
London is it?
2:23
>> Yeah. Um so really really looking
2:25
forward to that.
2:26
>> Full of history and it's going to be a
2:27
great night.
2:28
>> Yeah.
2:28
>> So get let's let's dig into what the
2:31
company is about. Um
2:33
>> Artisal Spirits Company is the listed
2:35
business but the key holding is the
2:38
Scotsmart whiskey.
2:39
>> Exactly. I mean, the Artisal Spirits
2:41
Company as a group creates and sells
2:43
outstanding limited edition whisies and
2:46
experiences, but it primarily does that
2:49
through the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society.
2:50
We have a few other brands, an
2:52
independent bottler called Single Cast
2:53
Nation in the US, we acquired in 2024, a
2:57
new uh private cask program called
2:59
Artisan Casks we lost launched last
3:01
year. Uh a small batch blended malt
3:03
business called JG Thompson, but really
3:05
Scotch Malt Whiskey Society is at the
3:07
heart. Um and while ASC has only existed
3:10
as an entity for just over a decade, the
3:12
society has been around for over 40
3:14
years
3:15
>> um through various guises uh for 20
3:18
years. It was just an independent
3:20
enterprise and an operation. And then
3:23
>> founded by a very charismatic founder
3:25
>> founded by Pip Hills. Uh was with him in
3:28
the vaults in October celebrating his
3:30
85th birthday. And he's every bit as
3:32
enigmatic in his 85th year as or 86th
3:35
year now as he was 40 years ago when he
3:37
came up
3:38
>> with the idea with a group of friends
3:40
and it was about discovering getting
3:43
your hands on whiskey that you couldn't
3:44
get elsewhere. Um, and that's what it
3:47
came from as a
3:48
>> it was those single molts that you
3:49
couldn't buy at the time.
3:51
>> Correct. And not just single malts, but
3:52
single casks, cask strength, because
3:56
predominantly the industry was blended
3:58
scotch. So malt and grain whiskies
4:00
blended together. But even the single
4:02
malts are still a blend of a huge number
4:04
of casks from a single distillery.
4:07
Actually, single cask cask strength. uh
4:10
no colorings added, no chill filtration,
4:13
nothing done other than time.
4:17
>> Um and that was the kind of essence of
4:20
the society
4:21
42 years ago.
4:23
>> You're laying down things for 20, 30, 40
4:26
years.
4:27
>> Yeah.
4:27
>> And there is a huge amount of trade that
4:29
goes on in between.
4:31
>> Y
4:32
>> um it would be good if you could just
4:34
talk a bit about that and how you use it
4:36
and how the rest of the industry uses
4:37
that trade.
4:38
>> Yeah. So I mean there's two parts to
4:40
that. The idea that the industry works
4:41
over a time frame that's very different
4:44
to most other industries. We are as you
4:46
say making decisions now about what
4:47
products do we want to sell in 2055.
4:50
[laughter]
4:51
>> That's difficult.
4:52
>> As a CEO also that must be incredibly
4:54
challenging.
4:55
>> But planning for February can be
4:56
challenging. [laughter] You know
4:58
February and 30 years time. But also
5:00
that across the industry there is a
5:02
spectrum. There are big players, DIO,
5:04
you dozens of distilleries they own,
5:06
down to smaller players who only own one
5:08
or maybe two. And when they're trying to
5:11
create complexity to a drram, [snorts]
5:14
>> it's a pain to have to own a distillery
5:16
that creates peted mole and the
5:18
distillery that produce a light malt and
5:19
something else. Instead, if you can
5:21
produce something great, the industry is
5:23
built on trade. and you would create
5:26
your liquid and then you would trade
5:28
casks of that whiskey with other
5:30
distillered blend to create that depth
5:33
in your in your blends. And so there's a
5:36
huge volume of trade and if you think
5:37
there are tens of millions of casks of
5:40
Scotch whiskey laying down to mature now
5:43
and while that number has gone up a bit
5:44
in recent years, you know, it was it was
5:47
double digit millions uh pre precoid.
5:50
So, it's it's a big volume of cast that
5:52
are maturing for the long-term future of
5:54
the industry
5:55
>> and that the players all work together
5:57
to trade and balance um in a way that's
6:00
collegiate like no other industry
6:02
[laughter] I' been. It's bizarre.
6:03
>> And for smaller one sort of one
6:06
distillery companies when they're
6:08
starting up cuz you can't produce
6:09
anything for really 3 years those sell
6:12
anything
6:13
>> that trade is really important as well.
6:15
>> It's really important in both
6:16
directions. So when someone builds a new
6:18
distillery as you say it's 3 years you
6:21
know if you then add on the produ the
6:24
the time to actually build the site 5
6:27
years probably before you can sell
6:28
nothing even called whiskey but if you
6:29
want to build a really quality brand
6:32
you're not building on a backbone of
6:33
three-year-old whiskey you want it to be
6:34
8 10 12 or older imagine building a
6:38
business you know is not going to
6:39
generate any cash for a decade
6:41
>> so instead those new distilleries want
6:44
to sell casks out into the industry
6:46
because they can turn it into cash on
6:47
day one [snorts] and the society can be
6:51
on the other side of that transaction.
6:52
So we can buy cast from new
6:54
distilleries. We're laying down the the
6:56
the spirit. We're maturing it on our
6:58
books and we'll release it in a decade's
7:00
time. But the distilleries had the money
7:02
now to go and invest in future
7:04
>> production. So you're like a a trading
7:06
house as well as a members club and
7:08
selling whiskey.
7:09
>> So that's where the difference between
7:10
ASC and the SMWS part comes in. So ASC
7:13
holds the inventory. uh it has the
7:16
inventory available to supply for SMWS
7:19
for its releases as well as the other
7:20
parts of the group, but also it can
7:23
trade and balance the casks themselves
7:24
within the industry.
7:28
>> It's a lovely sound of a bottle opening.
7:31
[snorts]
7:33
>> That's a lovely color.
7:34
>> Yeah. So, this is a 25y old and it's a
7:38
an exclusive to the venue here in
7:40
London. So, it's for our members for
7:42
anywhere to come in, but it's only
7:44
available for sale in this specific
7:46
venue called [snorts] a silver darling.
7:49
>> And again, part of the fun of the
7:50
society is that every bottle has its own
7:52
personality, and we use the tasting
7:55
panel to try to bring that to life for
7:57
people because they're going to be
7:59
buying a bottle without ever having
8:02
tasted it.
8:02
>> Well, cheers once again.
8:03
>> Cheers.
8:11
Yeah, that's that's lovely and very
8:13
different to the last drum that we
8:15
>> It does. The names I think whenever I've
8:18
had a a bottle of yours and or drink of
8:19
yours, the name always brings so much.
8:22
>> Yeah.
8:23
>> You might never think of that if you
8:24
just had the whiskey by itself.
8:26
>> Yeah.
8:26
>> You bring the name into it
8:28
>> and suddenly that whiskey has a
8:29
personality.
8:30
>> Absolutely.
8:31
>> Which is exact. And then you put the
8:32
bottle on the table and you have a
8:33
talking point.
8:34
>> Yeah.
8:34
>> And I was looking at the ones behind us.
8:35
We've got Scooby snack, fairy tales of
8:37
New York, and this cow enjoys swimming.
8:40
[laughter]
8:41
Um, so it's brilliant and varied and
8:43
just a lot of fun. And again, [snorts]
8:45
the other thing about whiskey is it can
8:46
sometimes take itself a little too
8:48
seriously. Um, and it's fun to sort of
8:52
poke fun at that.
8:52
>> It's a long-term industry. It's uh
8:55
you're doing a lot of trading. You've
8:57
got
8:58
>> all this stock on the balance sheet
9:00
>> that
9:01
>> I think we we both sort of know the
9:03
market doesn't really know how to value.
9:05
Yep.
9:05
>> Um, and you've got a shareholder
9:07
benefits program.
9:08
>> Mhm.
9:09
>> Let's just That's a lot, but let's let's
9:11
just start with this. How
9:13
>> do you come into that and how do you
9:16
view that as a CEO?
9:18
>> Yeah. So, I think it's important to to
9:20
think of the business um I sort of
9:23
differentiate between when I'm thinking
9:24
about the kind of business strategy and
9:25
the corporate strategy. And the business
9:28
strategy is still at its heart driven by
9:30
what do consumers, what do members want,
9:32
what what's what's at the heart of what
9:35
we can bring to people and that is
9:37
whiskey first, outstanding quality of
9:40
whiskey and an unrivaled um unique and
9:44
outstanding range of whisies we can
9:46
bring to them.
9:47
Really the proposition is VIP access to
9:51
uh kind of outstanding whiskies tested
9:53
and selected by experts
9:56
but the price of entry is buttons.
9:59
>> Yeah.
10:00
>> Um so VIP without the red carpet
10:03
requirements. [laughter]
10:04
Um so that's from a business
10:06
perspective. What's what is our
10:08
strategy? Therefore go after that and
10:09
what we want to do is um we want to
10:12
bring them this fantastic collection of
10:14
whiskies. To do so, we are buying from a
10:17
broad range of distilleries to broaden
10:19
the variety. We spend a huge amount on
10:22
wood, the the cask wood that the whiskey
10:25
goes in, disproportionately, much more
10:27
than almost anyone else because that's
10:29
somewhere where we can bring extra extra
10:32
flavor and quality to the whiskey. And
10:34
>> there's lots of stories in the industry
10:36
about finishing this idea of you just
10:38
you kind of dunk the whiskey quickly in
10:40
a cherry cast to finish. That last
10:42
whiskey that we tasted was in its second
10:44
cask for eight years. This isn't about a
10:47
kind of quick fix. It's about creating
10:49
real quality. We create value in two
10:51
stages. First of all, by the inflation
10:53
and appreciation of the liquid, but
10:55
ultimately we make money by putting it
10:57
into bottles and selling it to people
10:58
around the world.
10:59
>> Yeah.
11:00
>> From a corporate perspective, it's about
11:02
how do we bring to life that value to
11:05
our shareholders. And that's a challenge
11:07
because um we're a small cap, you know,
11:11
pre-profit uh business that has been
11:15
soaking up cash because we're investing
11:17
in this liquid for the long term. And
11:20
you're trying to explain to investors
11:21
who look at it and say, "How can your
11:24
inventory be more than 100% of sales?"
11:28
Because this is the inventory we're
11:29
going to be selling in 20 years time.
11:32
[snorts] Uh, how do you explain that? We
11:34
paid 25 million for it, but the bank
11:37
values at 50 and theoretically sold on
11:39
one casket time. It could be double
11:40
that.
11:41
>> How do you bring that to life to people
11:43
when you know, small cap investors, this
11:46
is the only small cap whiskey business
11:49
on the market?
11:50
>> I'm assuming most of your investors
11:51
aren't whiskey drinkers.
11:53
>> Okay, so next one up. Save the best last
11:56
real treat. Um, the society at its heart
11:59
is about single casks and the white
12:02
labels we've been drinking these ones
12:03
signature range. But also one of the
12:06
things that became clear over the last
12:08
couple of years was you can't just say
12:11
something's old, so it should be
12:12
expensive.
12:14
And [snorts]
12:14
to kind of match that demand, what we
12:16
released is a new range called the
12:17
Creators Collection. Small sets, two,
12:21
three, four bottles that have a story
12:24
that binds them together.
12:26
um Pete, but Isa Pete versus Highland
12:29
Pete versus Spaceside. Um the worm tub
12:34
collection. So, distilleries that have
12:36
kind of that meaty texture. Um this one
12:40
is called the Dipick and it's two casks,
12:43
the Iberian and the American. Um
12:46
distilled on the same day, the same
12:47
distillery 30 years ago. And the two
12:49
casks have matured separately and then
12:52
been taken on a different journey. one
12:53
into Spanish oak, one into American oak,
12:55
and then you get the chance to enjoy the
12:57
two together. So that's the idea.
12:59
>> And [snorts] drink them side by side,
13:02
[laughter]
13:02
>> evaluate them.
13:03
>> Exactly. To enjoy the two of them on
13:06
their own, but also
13:09
uh the things that they have in common
13:10
and the things that they differ. So
13:12
that's the Iberian. Okay.
13:16
>> And then do you want to do the honors
13:17
with the American?
13:22
>> Thank you.
13:23
That smells fantastic.
13:24
>> Yeah,
13:28
>> perfect.
13:29
>> Instantly you can see the color there,
13:30
can't you? That color contrast.
13:35
[laughter]
13:35
>> I need to right. So, what we see? So,
13:38
this is this one on this side and this
13:40
one on that side. Right. So, I'm going
13:42
to start with the Iberian.
13:44
>> Okay.
13:46
>> Yeah.
13:49
And this is definitely the most fun part
13:50
of the part of the role.
13:52
actually enjoying a drram with people.
13:54
And I one of the joys of the the role is
13:56
I do get to travel around to go to
13:58
events like tonight's Burns Tasting.
14:00
>> As a CEO, this is you're not you're not
14:02
sitting there running over
14:04
>> Yeah.
14:04
>> documents every night.
14:06
>> Not every most most of the time.
14:07
>> Shareholder benefit scheme. Yep.
14:09
>> Your shareholders you encourage to
14:12
become members. You encourage to come
14:14
and spend time in the clubs. They get
14:15
benefits.
14:16
>> Y
14:17
>> um
14:18
>> why why why did you bring that in? Why
14:21
do you think other companies don't do it
14:24
as well?
14:24
>> Um, so let's start with the why we did
14:27
do it. Um, I see it as such a beautiful
14:30
kind of virtuous circle between the two.
14:33
>> Um, we have these members who care
14:36
passionately about the brand and
14:38
prospective members. [snorts] Um, we
14:41
want to give them the feeling of
14:42
ownership in the business. And then we
14:44
have people who've become owners in the
14:46
business who we want them to enjoy the
14:49
beauty of the business itself. Yeah. And
14:52
that's the sort of that's the sort of
14:54
principle. We then were very clear. We
14:56
wanted to build a structure that worked
14:58
for us as a business. It has to it has
15:02
to make sense for us so that it's
15:04
sustainable. And it would be easy to
15:07
drop in nice benefits that are great for
15:08
them, but if they're not sustainable,
15:10
you end up taking them away. And there's
15:11
nothing worse than offering someone
15:13
something and then taking a long term.
15:15
>> It is absolutely longterm. Right from
15:17
the start, we want it to be sustainable.
15:19
And therefore, we chose things that we
15:21
thought had value to members or
15:23
prospects. Two tiers. One is if you own
15:25
a,000 shares or more, which was about
15:28
£1,000 at the time of IPO, it's now
15:30
about £300.
15:31
>> Um, and a second tier,
15:33
>> £300.
15:33
>> Yeah. [laughter] to get into that tier.
15:35
And that includes halfp price
15:36
membership, uh a range of discounts on
15:38
some of the some of the brands and
15:39
products, uh access to exclusive bottle
15:42
releases, and then the second tier,
15:44
which is £5,000 shares, about £1,500,
15:47
or about £1,000 extra for the people who
15:49
bought in the first time round. Um that
15:53
has complimentary membership, a larger
15:56
discount on some parts of the range, uh
15:58
a complimentary shareholder event. We
16:00
did our first one at our offices HQ in
16:03
central Edinburgh last year. So that
16:05
combination of some things are
16:07
complimementaryary that really support
16:09
the business. We want shareholders to be
16:11
members. Some parts which encourage
16:14
behaviors we want to see. So buying more
16:16
bottles, buying high price bottles. And
16:18
some parts we want to encourage essences
16:20
of the business. People getting
16:22
together, having the chance to ask
16:24
questions about
16:26
why is why are my shares worth less less
16:28
than they were? How much of that is
16:30
about our growth trajectory? How much of
16:32
about what's going on in the market?
16:34
What are we doing about it? People feel
16:36
those things. People really the share
16:38
price has gone down. That is categorical
16:40
fact. People therefore feel frustration
16:43
at that.
16:43
>> Do they come to you and say why has the
16:45
share price gone down? Why have I lost
16:47
money?
16:48
>> Absolutely. And it's important to be
16:50
able to say to to have that conversation
16:52
with people to not hide from the fact
16:55
that people have saved their money.
16:57
They've earned money. They've built.
16:58
They've backed the business on the basis
17:00
of what you said or the prospects and at
17:02
the moment the share price is below what
17:04
they invested.
17:05
>> But you have to be able to explain why
17:07
we think that the share price is not a
17:10
fair reflection of the value of the
17:11
business today. But also what are we
17:13
doing about it? And again coming back to
17:14
earlier what are we doing as a business
17:17
to recruit more members, engage those
17:19
members, retain those members, expand
17:22
our reach, expand the portfolio, realize
17:24
cash in the business. And then from a
17:26
corporate perspective, what are we doing
17:27
to explain that to investors? How are we
17:29
trying to reach a new investor base? And
17:32
the shareholder benefit program was part
17:34
of that program. One of the challenges
17:36
for a business of our side is liquidity.
17:39
>> Actually trying to get in a new
17:40
institutional investor is difficult
17:42
because the liquidity is so low. So part
17:45
of the strategy is actually if you can
17:47
get a bigger drum beat of retail
17:49
turnover, it increases your liquidity
17:51
which opens the door to some of the
17:52
midcar. So the family offices, smaller
17:55
cap investors, which then makes it
17:57
easier for institutional investors which
17:59
can drive the share price more
18:01
materially. So it's part of that
18:03
investor uh engagement strategy to do
18:07
more outreach programs, do more PR, do
18:09
more retail presentations, encourage
18:11
shareholder engagement program because
18:14
it helps everybody involved.
18:15
>> Yeah. And
18:16
>> long answer to a short question.
18:17
>> It's a long answer. [laughter] Um and
18:19
and and then two things come out of
18:20
that. One thing I said said out there,
18:22
why why do you think other companies
18:24
don't do it? But it's I think you've
18:26
sort of answered that question partially
18:28
because it does require a lot of effort
18:30
and it sounds like it requires a lot of
18:31
effort on your part as the CEO.
18:33
>> It it does and both from a um you only
18:38
have so much kind of um you know kind of
18:41
like the political capital. What things
18:43
are you going to back? What things do
18:44
you want to motivate your team to go and
18:46
do above and beyond? And I think it is
18:49
important the investors, the
18:51
shareholders better known as the owners.
18:54
>> It's their business.
18:55
>> They are the owners. The shareholders
18:56
own the company.
18:57
>> That's my point. So, but sometimes the
18:59
words like shareholders, investors makes
19:01
it seem disconnected. They're the
19:02
owners. It's their business.
19:04
>> And it's therefore worth us spending
19:06
time to keep them happy. We don't do
19:08
things as a knee-jerk reaction. Part of
19:10
it is explaining to them why we're not
19:12
doing what they want us to do because we
19:13
think a different approach is better. Um
19:16
[snorts] but engaging with them is
19:17
really really important. Um but also I
19:20
think that sometimes the the view on
19:22
shareholder programs is that they are uh
19:25
too difficult to manage, too expensive.
19:27
And that's why even when we kind of
19:29
released this second tier of of
19:31
benefits, [snorts] it had to be
19:34
sustainable. It had to be something that
19:35
was net beneficial to the to the
19:37
business.
19:38
>> That must be an incredibly privileged
19:40
position as a CEO.
19:42
>> It's a joy. And I said before, the
19:44
members have always acted like the
19:45
owners of the business. It was lovely
19:47
for them to have the chance to become
19:49
owners. At the time of our IPO,
19:52
[clears throat] 10% of our UK members
19:54
became shareholders buying £1,000 or
19:57
more of shares. That was brilliant. It's
19:59
a lovely way for them to really have a
20:02
connection and ownership of the society
20:04
they feel so passionate about. And
20:08
my job is to be the steward of those
20:12
investors of their money to look after
20:14
the money to build and grow a business
20:16
that will be as successful in 40 years
20:19
time as it has been for the last 40
20:21
years.
20:21
>> On that note, I'm going to wrap up with
20:23
one question of what are you most
20:26
excited about
20:27
>> for the company?
20:29
>> Yeah. But in the industry
20:32
um so I think as as a company
20:35
[clears throat]
20:37
we have outstanding quality product. The
20:41
whiskey is fantastic. The brand
20:43
reputation standing is is wonderful. We
20:47
have amazing people some really really
20:49
brilliant people. And despite the fact
20:52
that over the last two or three years we
20:54
have faced a lot of headwinds
20:57
we've made good progress.
20:59
What I'm really excited about is as that
21:01
tide turns, as we move from facing
21:03
headwinds into neutral lines, the
21:08
opportunities for the business are
21:10
astronomical.
21:12
>> And
21:13
we've done a good job in or a decent job
21:16
in tough conditions over the last couple
21:18
of years. We've done lots of new new
21:21
things that should have been incremental
21:23
and positive and instead of just offset
21:25
some of the downsides as conditions turn
21:28
as economic conditions improve as the
21:31
consumer's kind of spend power
21:34
confidence improves
21:36
um our ability to significantly
21:39
outperform comes to life. So that's from
21:42
a kind of business perspective
21:45
>> and and the industry perspective.
21:47
>> Um I think just in general the fact that
21:51
in all the conversations I'm having with
21:52
people that um there is a stay the
21:55
course mentality that the the whiskey
21:59
industry has a long-term
22:02
um memory. [clears throat] So it has
22:05
learned from some of the challenges of
22:07
previous downturns where they're
22:08
avoiding the kind of price slashing and
22:11
things that do damage over the long term
22:13
and instead it's encouraging innovation
22:16
right out the storm. Um so I think that
22:20
that ability for the industry to work
22:23
together because the rising tide lifts
22:25
all boats
22:26
>> and the Scotch industry is is is
22:29
brilliant in that space and that people
22:31
really do want each other to succeed.
22:34
society is a good example. We're
22:35
distillery agnostic. We talk about how
22:37
great something from Bulmore is despite
22:39
the fact they've been around for
22:40
hundreds of years versus something new
22:42
like rasi or ardin which are also
22:45
fantastic but different and those things
22:47
which raise the standard of people's
22:49
enjoyment of all scotch is for the good
22:51
of the whole industry.
22:52
>> Yeah. Well, that's great and and thank
22:54
you for this very generous amount of
22:56
time you've given us afternoon.
22:58
>> Thank you very much.
22:58
>> I look forward to tonight.
23:00
>> Me too.
23:00
>> Cheers.
23:01
>> Cheers. Thanks very much.
23:02
>> Thank you. Nice.
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