The survey

The survey "You and the whisky" was launched on the site in order to get a better understanding of what the whisky consumer is looking for, and what his buying behaviour is. This survey was not made by a professional polling organization (far from it), and the results will probably not reflect perfectly the actual general trends.

However, the response rate was more than satisfactory, and the results are interesting on more than one account. It probably would have been easier to analyse the answers if some questions had been put differently, but this is just a learning process...

As you can see in the table on the right, 275 people from 25 countries have answered the survey. Most of the answers come from France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Preferred whisky producing area is clearly Scotland, and amongst the different kinds of whisky, single malt is number one. Which is quite normal, as the poll was published on a web site dedicated to Scotch single malt...

The analysis of the results will only concern the answers having pointed Scotch single malt.

Survey results

What whisky means to you

The survey confirmed also that a great majority of the visitors of the site consider whisky as a passion or at least as their favourite spirit. Because of the low percentage of people considering whisky just as a spirit or a gift idea, the analysis pf the results will not take those answers into consideration.

Considering this, the analysed results will be limited to 217 answers, which represents however a rather significant amount of reactions;

The independent bottlers

Discussions about the role of independent bottlers is often fascinating. However, a unexpected great deal of whisky lovers seem not to know about their existence.

To refine somehow the results, the table on the right makes a difference between those who claim to be whisky enthusiasts and those who just love whisky. And even amongst the whisky enthusiasts, about 20% seem to be unaware of the existence of independent bottling. But what is the difference between somebody who sees himself as an enthusiast and somebody who "just" considers whisky as his favourite spirit? There was no objective element in the survey to classify the answers in the one or the other category.

For the typical questions about the role of independent bottlers, only the answers of those who are aware of their existence are taken into consideration.

Please note also that several answers were possible for this question.

Generally, the role of independent bottlers is considered as rather positive. There is a majority who rightly refuses to consider the profession as a homogeneous whole. There are indeed great differences from one bottler to the other one, and this is clearly visible in the answers.
Very few people continue to think the independent bottlers are harmful to the whisky business, because they would live on the work of other professions (parasites) or because they would distort the image of the distilleries.

Where to buy?

Where whisky lovers prefer to buy their spirit is also determined by the national environment. For instance French supermarkets offer a wide range of whisky, which is not necessarily the case in other countries. That's why another table has been made for this specific question, on the left.

In the column "Others", the following answers were given: airports, producer, private sale, club, "Société des Alcools, Québec", representative, directly in Scotland.

The table shows there is a majority to buy their whisky at a specialized shop. There were more answers possible for this question, and a majority gave several answers.

Following table summarizes the buying behaviour of whisky lovers, regardless of their country of origin.

Percentage of alcohol

The idea behind this question was that the "traditional" market of the distilleries and the greater concerns used to bottle the whisky at 40% (and 43% for the international market) until recently, keeping in mind the legal aspects (beneath 40%, a spirit does not deserve the right to be called "whisky") and a commercial argument, because the excise costs are calculated on the percentage of pure alcohol per litre, whatever the quality of the spirit. As long as real whisky lovers are not concerned, this makes sense, and standardization of a product makes it easier to sell in mass.

With some notable exceptions like Talisker or Springbank, this policy seems to have been followed by the great groups. The independent bottlers came on the market and things began to change. Independent bottlers have other marketing strategies, and do not produce for standardized huge markets, because they are not in state to deliver a highly standardized product in large quantities and as such are excluded from the great distribution networks. Their own development had to find some other commercial arguments. The originality of the product (non chill filtration, bottling at 46% or cask strength, etc...) have become a strong selling point for them. Or course there were some exceptions to the rule, as Gordon & MacPhail used to bottle at 40% and Springbank uses unchill filtration and 46% bottling since a while... But this is not the general rule...

The originality of the bottling makes that this bottles are distributed through specialized shop networks, and are generally to be bought by a specialized group of buyers. I realize some of you wandered why this question was part of the survey. The answer is above. Probably because the question was not very clear, the results are not really meaningful, even if it clear that enthusiasts like cask strength bottlings...

Buying criteria

Very few people seem to be influenced by the shape of the package or the name of the distillery. Nor the romantic side of some distillery names, nor their exotic and impossible to pronounce name (like Bruichladdich or Auchroisk), nor the shape of the bottle are amongst the buying criteria for a bottle of whisky.

Few whisky lovers buy always whisky from the same area. This seems a little curious, as we think about the fascination of many people for Islay whiskies.... But this probably means whisky lovers like to enlarge their vision field, even if they clearly prefer a given area. There is nearly nobody who always buys whisky from the same distillery.

On the other hand, many people consider each new acquisition as a discovery and even more people systematically use to search information before buying their bottle. This is probably due to the combination of a huge (and still growing) supply and the (still growing too) price which is far from being just trivial....

Lots of them trust the advice of their liquorist or friends when they buy a bottle. The reasons is probably the same as for the prior search.

Ranking of the choice criteria

If this question was relatively difficult to answer, the interpretation of the results was far from being easy neither. That's why the table on the right just gives the ranking of the preferences for both groups of whisky lovers

The table shows for each category, the answer the most commonly ranked in first position, then in second position, etc... Interpretation is not easy... No majority of answers for the fifth position, for example. However, a kind of hierarchy seems to show through the figures.

Both group say that price and advice are the most important criteria. The "price" argument is relatively difficult to point out of the information from this survey, as the notion of cost of things was not really clearly defined. Some will find a bottle of 50 euros to expensive, while other will begin to hesitate from 200 euros... Further, it is quite normal that the price is an important part of a commercial decision... But, what is probably more interesting, is to notice that advice is in first position too... This seems to prove that a network of good liquorists, together with quality literature about whisky is very important. The www.whisky-distilleries.info site is part of this literature, and the results of the poll seem to confirm its utility for the whisky consumer.

Whisky: a fashion phenomenon?

Single malt market is rather healthy. Of course, the volume of selling's is very low compared to those of blends (which remains around 90% of the market), but in value this part of the market is constantly developing since several years.

The success of this fascinating spirit, rich and so various made the producers very active in marketing. More and more new versions are available on the market, sometimes intended to collectors and sometimes due to a diversification of the production, in order to reach the consumer who is not really familiar to the "traditional" taste of whisky.

More and more new versions for many distilleries and a diversification in the types of finishes probably made for those who are not traditional whisky drinkers, that seems to be the trend... Some very great producers (like Diageo who owns about 30% of all Scottish distilleries) created limited editions (sometimes "limited" to 15.000 bottles...(?)), extended their "Classic Malts" range to other distilleries of their group, sell successive releases of old whiskies from legendary distilleries, like Port Ellen or Brora slightly different from each other. All distilleries which worked for blendings in those days, and which disappeared twenty years ago...
And like every fashion phenomenon, the consumers exchange their ideas and appreciations, incite their friends to try it and the single malt fashion just continues to develop. There are trendy whiskies, everyone has to know or to own...

And like any other trendy product, whisky has its own festivals. Great whisky events where everybody can taste whisky without having to buy a whole bottle of each (no matter if it is a basic or a top of the range whisky), or to discover old bottlings, disappeared or at least not suited for every purse...

Every year new festivals are created. One of the most important ones is certainly the Whisky Live. Organized in several countries, and since a few years in France too, the Live is one of the top organisations, rather cheap in regard of the available bottles it gives many people the occasion to discover the fascinating whisky world.

Partnership

This year, the organizers of the Paris Whisky Live (La Maison du Whisky and Whisky Magazine -French-) decided to associate several web sites, not so much to the organization of the festival itself, but to the dissemination of the information before, and during the festival, and their impressions after it. It is clearly an acknowledgment of the role of web sites like www.whisky-distilleries.info and others in the public information about whisky in general and in the promotion of quality bottlings.

By way of thanks, the organizers offer a modest commission on the tickets sold through the different associated sites. This little fee is intended to support the sites financially. So if you intend to go to Whisky Live Paris, please order your tickets on whisky-distilleries.info. Not only you will have an unforgettable week-end in Paris, but you'll help this site to continue its work, and to continue to develop itself, for the pleasure of many happy visitors.

For more information about Whisky Live Paris 2006, please have a look on the dedicated page on the site.

To order your tickets directly, please click here.

Whisky Live Paris

Some practical information :

Dates : September 16 and 17 (general public) September 18 (professionals)
Location: Palais Brongniart – Paris 2nd
Admission : €35 per day - €50 week-end
Time :
Saturday 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm,
Sunday 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm and
Monday 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
A lunch area run by a taste specialist will be available to participants throughout the day. Access : subway line 3, Bourse station bus lines 20, 39, 48, 67, 74, 85
Information: +33 (0)1 47 30 71 90
Reservation:see below