The Weekly Mash, Friday Jun 27th

I was full of good intentions this week about reporting back from the 6th World Whisky Forum which this year was held in Bordeaux and hosted by the remarkable Maison Lineti (which we were lucky enough to visit).

With a theme of ‘Build To Last’, it featured a dozen speakers from whisky, wine, science, the retail world and academia laid out in detail the realities of the issues which the whisky market is currently facing.

What can history tell us? How did Scotch get out of the crises of the late 20th century, how to build a brand in these tough times. How to manage resources, cope with costs, supply issues, over-capacity, crazy prices, climate, legislation. There was a pep talk on what retailers want and need, the parallels with wine world and why education is vital at time like these.

It wasn’t always easy listening, but at a time when it can seem as if firms are running around in a panic, calm, sensible, honest discussion was precisely what was required.

That’s a lot to digest and write up, so the full report will appear in next week’s Mash.

Until then, here’s some photos …