India has a love affair with whisky: Glenmorangie's Caspar MacRae
President and CEO of The Glenmorangie company talks to Forbes India about the single malt whisky's journey, its growing Indian market, challenges, and more
Caspar MacRae, president and CEO of The Glenmorangie company. Image: Neha Mithbawkar for Forbes India
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On his visit to India, Caspar MacRae, president and CEO of The Glenmorangie company, talks to Forbes India about the company’s legacy, the whisky’s growing Indian consumer base, and more. Edited excerpts:
Q. Glenmorangie holds in its essence a 180-year-old legacy. Can you talk about its origin?
In the highlands way up north and beyond, the Glenmorangie distillery was founded in 1843 by a man called William Matheson. He was a farmer and he was building it on the site of an old brewery where there was a spring called the Tarlogie Springs. It wasn't until 1886 when they advertised for a partner to help develop the distillery and that they found a man called Edword Taylor who wasn’t a whiskymaker at all. He was an Eau de vie (a clear, colourless fruit brandy) distiller and a ginmaker from London. And, what made him special was that he designed some stills for us which are now the tallest stills in Scotland. They are famous for the Glenmorangie distillery because they make us an exceptionally light and elegant drink.
Ever since, we've built a mindset which is that the way to get to greatness is to continue to try and get better. Our distiller Bill Lumsden, who has won many awards as a master distiller, is often referred to as the ‘Willy Wonka’ of the whisky world, and for the last 30 years, he has been pioneering ways of making our whiskies ever more delicious. He was one of the first people to ever do cask finishes, and was the first person to do chocolate roasted malt, which is the foundation of our Signet whisky. He was also the man who just recently oversaw the development of this wonderful Lighthouse distillery, which is a multimillion-pound research and development distillery which we've built right next to our original one.
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To quickly highlight an interesting anecdote, I’d like to say that for the last 50 years, Glenmorangie’s The Original’s bestselling version has been the 10-year-old single malt. And that is very precious to Dr Lumsden’s heart because that was the first whisky he ever tried and he really loved. That was the first moment when he thought single malt whisky can be delicious. But after almost 30 years of his work at the distillery, he was continuously seeing if he could make it even more delicious. About two years ago, he started experiments to see what if The Original was 12 years old. He took a long time to arrive at that. All of us on the nosing panel, about a year ago, received a little bottle called ‘A’ and a little bottle called ‘B’, and we got to try the two whiskies, we didn't really know what they were, but one of them was 10-year-old Original, and one of them was 12-year-old Original, and over 80 percent of us said that the new 12-year-old is just absolutely delicious. So after more than 50 years of Glenmorangie Original being a 10-year-old, is going to become a 12-year-old.
Q. How do you see single malt growing in India?
It's already doing very well. India has a love affair with whisky, which is wonderful. From what I have read, 71 percent of alcohol is drunk in India is spirits, and of that 80 percent is whisky. Single malt is still quite small. I think the calculation is that the single malt market is just short of 400 million euros, which is a small fraction of the overall whisky market. What I find really inspiring is how enthusiastic, passionate and knowledgeable the Indian whisky consumer is. For example, we were meeting with a travel club in India the other day and talking to their members to discover how well they understood the categories of whisky, how insightful they were with their questions, and how knowledgeable they were with their facts really inspired me. We're not the biggest single malt whisky, we will never be the biggest single malt whisky, but we try and be the best single malt whisky. And when you've got consumers who are really knowledgeable, that's when they discover how good you are.
Q. What is driving this growth?
Three things. One is increased distribution. Being available beyond the Tier I, II and III cities is driving expansion. The second thing is more informed and experimental consumers. When I first came to India more than 10 years ago, and I would ask people what they drank, they would either say single malt drinker, or wine drinker, or Indian whisky, and they were dedicated to that one category. Now, what we're finding is that consumers say that it depends upon the occasion and their mood. The consumers are becoming much more adventurous in their choice. And that's driving the growth of the single malt category as well. And then the third thing is how innovative whisky is becoming. There's always new innovations, giving people new things to try, and that vibrancy is attracting more people to the category.
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Q. Where does India stand globally when it comes to Glenmorangie’s share of sales?
It’s a very important market. If you look at domestic markets, India is already our third biggest market worldwide by volume. We have the US, we have the UK, and then India is now its third biggest market, and is the fastest-growing by double digits over the last few years. We think that India is already important. But, as I look ahead to the next 10 or 20 years, because we think long term as a single malt brand, we're really excited about the long-term potential of the Indian market.
Q. With the festive season coming up in India, is there a strategy that Glenmorangie has in mind about the sales in the country?
We believe in Scotland and Glenmorangie that we make the best single malt whisky in the world. But one of the things we really want to be is locally relevant to the consumers, which is why we work very closely with our partners here in Moët Hennessy India to make sure we're being relevant in the way that we present the brands to the Indian consumer. There's been some fantastic marketing programmes here by the Indian team, like the ‘Delicious Design Project’, where they partnered with the designers to create something beautiful based on the insight that the single malt is mainly consumed at home. They wanted to create a wonderful at-home dining, drinking experience, creating wonderful pieces of furniture for people to enjoy in their gatherings at home. And beyond that, when we look at the celebration periods, I know there are gift packs or special packaging coming that allow people to make sure they are giving the gift of Glenmorangie in the festive period.
Q. Any challenges in the Indian market for Glenmorangie?
India is an incredibly complicated place. You know, when my friends ask me about the Indian market, the first thing I say is India is one of the most diverse countries in the world. The diversity of the people, the cultures and the rules and the regulations means that doing business in India isn't always very easy. But we are always supportive of working within regulations to make sure we can grow the market for the future. And then the other thing is, for India, beyond the rules and regulations, just the geographical size of it. So far, we've been predominantly focused on Tier I cities, but we think there's demand beyond Tier I, into Tier II cities. And probably one of our biggest priorities is just expanding distribution to make sure it is available to more people.
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Q. What is your view on the Indian whisky consumer base?
I think one of the things that’s great for whisky consumers, at the moment, is how much choice is out there. And when we look at Indian single malt whiskies rising, I think it’s a very positive thing for the industry. It's in line with consumer trends to drink less but to drink better, looking for better consumer experiences. And what I know is that there is room for more brands within the category because the more vibrant the category, the more consumers will be attracted to it.
Q. What is Glenmorangie’s strategy towards climate conservation?
We're a brand that's been around for almost 200 years. And we hope to be around for the next 200 years too. As I sit here as CEO, one of my biggest priorities is sustainability. We're committed to being carbon neutral by 2040, and we've already made very significant strides in that area. When one goes to the Glenmorangie distillery, 20 percent of our power to fuel the distillery is already generated through recycling of our waste to generate natural biogas. We've also increased the use of solar panels, and the ability to be more efficient in the reduction of energy. I would hope that, by 2040, we will be completely carbon neutral, and that will make sure Glenmorangie can be enjoyed not just by us, but by our subsequent generations as well.
