THE Macallan and Highland Park distiller Edrington has become the majority owner of Wyoming Whiskey.
Glasgow-based Edrington, which highlighted the success of its partnership in recent years with the US business, has increased its shareholding to 80% in a deal with Wyoming Whiskey’s founding shareholders, led by Kate Mead, Brad Mead and David DeFazio. It took a 35% stake in the US business in 2018.
Edrington chief executive Scott McCroskie said that taking a majority shareholding in Wyoming Whiskey was a "logical step" for both the Scottish company and the US business, declaring: “The ultra-premium American whiskey category is going through a period of rapid growth.
"This is an exciting opportunity to apply Edrington’s skills in crafting exceptional ultra-premium spirit brands to continue Wyoming Whiskey’s premiumisation journey.”
Edrington observed that, since 2018, Wyoming Whiskey had increased its sales volumes and value in the US at a faster pace than the ultra-premium American whiskey category as a whole.
It noted that Wyoming Whiskey was “born and bred” on the Mead family ranch in Kirby.
READ MORE: Ian McConnell: Simple arithmetic eludes peacock-like Brexiters
Brad Mead said: "Our partnership with Edrington over the past five years has been extraordinarily productive. Edrington’s track record of creating iconic ultra-premium whiskeys and building authentic brands makes the company the perfect partner going forward. We’re excited about the future of Wyoming Whiskey and our continued association with Edrington.”
Wyoming Whiskey will continue to be made in Kirby.
Edrington, which has more than 3,000 staff in wholly owned and joint venture companies, said the 37 employees working at Wyoming Whiskey would be “welcomed” into its wider business.
It added: “Since joining the Edrington portfolio in 2018, Wyoming Whiskey has been part of the company’s partnership brands business unit, which has collaborated with colleagues in the US to build its reputation as a unique ultra-premium-plus American whiskey. During that time, the brand has grown volume and value in the US faster than the ultra-premium American whiskey category, making it an excellent fit for Edrington’s strategy and values.”
READ MORE: Ian McConnell: SNP worse on business than the Tories? A strange narrative
Jane Graham, Edrington’s director of partnership brands, said: “With a compelling brand story, natural ultra-premium credentials stemming from its origins, and its inherent scarcity, Wyoming Whiskey is a great fit for Edrington’s ultra-premium strategy. Our majority shareholding gives Edrington the opportunity to get closer than ever to every aspect of Wyoming Whiskey and increase investment behind the brand.”
READ MORE: Denial after denial from brass-necked Tory arch-Brexiter
Suzy Smith, managing director of estate brands at Edrington, said she was delighted to be welcoming Wyoming Whiskey into her portfolio, alongside Highland Park and The Glenrothes single malt Scotch whiskies.
She said: “After five years of growth and success as part of our partnership brands team, we are excited at the potential of Wyoming Whiskey and believe it will contribute to Edrington’s strategic vision and become a prestige American whiskey brand under our stewardship. Wyoming Whiskey is a unique American whiskey thanks to its craft and quality, born and bred on the Mead family ranch in Kirby, Wyoming."
Edrington’s principal shareholder is The Robertson Trust, which has donated £322 million to charitable causes in Scotland since 1961.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here