7th April, 2016 by Amy Hopkins

Diageo’s head of whisky outreach has rejected claims Scotch producers are imitating Bourbon, instead arguing the whisky industry has witnessed a “Scotchification of Bourbon”.

Speaking to The Spirits Business, Nick Morgan, head of whisky outreach at Johnnie Walker producer Diageo, said: “There’s a narrative out there about the ‘Bourbonisation’ of Scotch, but I think this is the wrong narrative, because it’s the ‘Scotchification’ of Bourbon. Producers are trying to mirror the diversity of Scotch, which they will never manage.”

Morgan’s comments were made during a discussion about Scotch whisky innovation and Diageo’s new Whiskey Union arm.

Described as an experimental “craft” whisky arm, Whiskey Union forms part of Diageo’s newly unveiled strategy to target growth in the Scotch whisky segment and combat the challenge posed by innovative American and New World whiskies.

Bottlings launched within the range are described as “unorthodox, weird and wonderful”. While some are labeled as Scotch whisky when they adhere to industry regulations, others that do not are titled ‘spirit drinks’.

“Over the past three or four years, the rate of innovation at Diageo has been quite remarkable, and it has been remarkably successful,” said Morgan. “Innovation is really making a difference to our business but I don’t think we are any where near finished yet – there’s a lot more we can do.

“Looking at Scotch, this is a category where we have innovated for over 100 years. What [we] are seeing now is an accelerated pace of innovation, but this reflects the accelerated pace of everything. All categories are trying to keep up with this.”

At an investors’ conference last year, David Gates, head of premium core spirits at Diageo, said that Diageo will endeavor to combat the “erosion” of consumer trust in big institutions and “kill any BS”.

Addressing the possible challenge independent brands pose to establish players, Morgan said: “Big is beautiful and allows us to do lots of things that smaller distilleries can’t do. Every brand wants to create a consistent product.

“We have huge experimental facilities and have been experimenting for years and years. But it’s only been over the past few years that people have been open to hearing this. Now we can lead the conversation.”

For a more in-depth look at Scotch whisky innovation, see the March 2016 issue of The Spirits Business magazine.