Introduction by: Peter Marshall
The title of today’s blog says it all. As you will read, not only is Ian MacLeod making some major moves in global travel retail with the introduction of some unique product launches, the company has also cemented an exclusive distribution partnership with DISC for the Americas.
These are exciting times for the company and I had the opportunity to speak recently with William Ovens, Ian MacLeod’s Global Travel Retail Director, about the company’s products and plans.
Peter Marshall (PM): William, welcome to trunblocked.com. Well, I really don’t know where to start this conversation. As a privately-held business, Ian MacLeod Distillers is 90 years young. The company has 18 brands and 48 products within its portfolio, which straddle mainstream to luxury and you also cover most of the spirits categories. When you get up in the morning, how do you focus on priorities for the travel retail channel? Perhaps you should start by reminding us of your core brands.
William Ovens (WO): The business was started in 1936 by Leonard Russell Senior as a whisky broking business and then blending and bottling followed. The company continued to expand and became a distiller in 2003 when it purchased Glengoyne. In 2005 Smokehead, a peaty malt whisky from the Island of Islay was born – as a disruptive alternative to the more traditional single malts from Islay. Then in 2011 the Tamdhu Distillery on Speyside was purchased and, most recently, the company bought Rosebank Distillery in 2019 from Diageo. Rosebank is widely recognised as the King of the Lowlands. Next year we will start building Laggan Bay Distillery on Islay and this will then mean we will have a distillery in the 4 main whisky producing regions.