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Diageo creates furor over malt

The world's biggest spirits group Diageo Plc is creating a stir in the scotch whisky world by selling its top-selling Cardhu brand, formerly a single malt, as a mix of malts from neighboring distilleries.

Diageo's whisky competitors say that calling the product Cardhu is misleading because not all the product comes from that single distillery. A mix of malts like the new Cardhu usually takes the name of the brand-owner or blender, not the distillery.

Diageo controls one third of the scotch industry market and sells many single-malt whiskies from individual distilleries, but it has reached full capacity at its Cardhu distillery in the whisky heartland of Speyside in north-eastern Scotland.

Scotland has around 90 malt distilleries largely scattered across the highlands and islands, and many produce single malts such as Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and Macallan. The bulk of scotch whisky sold around the world such as Johnnie Walker and J&B are blends of malt whiskies and grain whiskies.

Diageo says that due to strong demand for Cardhu, especially from its biggest market in Spain, it cannot meet demand for its 12-year old single-malt product. It ceased bottling its Cardhu single malt in March last year.

In its place it has launched Cardhu pure malt, made from a blend of Cardhu and other 12-year-old malts from nearby Speyside distilleries such as Glendullan rather than just from the Cardhu distillery, which sits on the hillside above the River Spey.
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