By Scott Wright
KINGBARNS Distillery is poised to debut its inaugural single malt in the US – around three years after initially planned.
The Fife distillery launched Dream to Dram in international markets in January 2019, around five years after it was established by the Wemyss Family in 2014.
However, the family held back the malt’s launch in the US because of the 25 per cent tariff applied to imports of single malt by the Trump administration in October 2019. The tariffs were introduced amid a long-running dispute between the US and the European Union over aircraft subsidies.
READ MORE: Trump tariffs delay Scotch distiller's US expansion
The US suspended the tariffs in the middle of last year, paving the way for Kingsbarns to take Dream to Dram to the US for the first time.
William Wemyss, chairman of Kingsbarns owner Wemyss Family Spirits, said the distiller is “really excited” about the long-awaited launch. “We’re about to launch Kingsbarns into America in the first quarter of next year, so given it is the largest Scotch market in the world, that is going to be really exciting with lots of potential.
“We put it off because of all these import tariffs when Trump was in office. Those have been removed now so it is a bit more of a level playing field. That is why we are going now.”
Mr Wemyss noted that the malt will be distributed throughout the US on behalf of the family-owned distiller via its established import partner, which sells other Wemyss products, including Darnley’s Gin and the Wemyss Vintage Malts range. He said the distributor is “very keen to take Kingsbarns single malt into their portfolio as well”.
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Speaking about the performance of the Wemyss business more generally, Mr Wemyss added: “Things are going really well in terms of sales, particularly into Asia and the UK has been pretty strong for us.
“The outlook is pretty positive, except on the production level where everybody has got these challenges around a much higher cost of production which will be filtering through next year.
“Energy, obviously, has gone up dramatically. The cost of barley has gone up, dry goods have gone up. We’re not experiencing anything dissimilar to what other producers are experiencing. It is pretty tough for everybody.”
Asked if the cost-of-living crisis was affecting sales, Mr Wemyss said “there are signs of people being a bit more tentative in terms of purchasing decisions, understandably”.
He added: “There is a risk a lot more of that will filter through into 2023 as people have to pay a lot more money to heat their houses and [on] other consumer spending decisions.”
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