INTERVIEW WITH John Harvey McDonough, Speyside Distillery – Scotch Whisky News
INTERVIEW WITH John Harvey McDonough, Speyside distillery
Hello John, thank you for your time, I know you are a busy man and a lot of time spent abroad. After my whisky tasting evening with Paul Dempsey and a visit to the distillery with Sandy, I can now honestly say, I am a big fan of Speyside distillery! The brand was more or less previously unobtainable here in Scotland – so I am pleased now there is a presence. I know I have caught you at a busy period whilst in Taiwan with Michael Owen, apologies.
Q; In Taiwan and China, is it just the Michael Owen bottles you are marketing, or the whole range?
A – It is the whole range .. we have been marketing SPEY as a brand for almost 20 years in Taiwan and almost 5 in China but of course we are very excited about the prospects of the SPEY-Michael Owen partnership for Greater China and indeed the whole of Asia.
Q; The expressions – The Golden Choice (40.6% abv) and The Michael Owen Limited Edition (46% abv). Will these be available in Scotland?
A- Yes they will but on a very limited allocation-basis only in 2015.
Q; Michael is obviously an excellent name/brand in that area of the world – as he is the world over, has he been a good ambassador so far for whisky? And what of the future?
A – He has been a superb brand ambassador for our SPEY brand both professionally and personally and we have been able to meet with his whole family which allows us to understand why Michael is so popular and well respected around the world. The future looks very bright based on our first very successful 6 months co-operation.
Q; Moving back to the distillery and the Company, apart from historical links, what was the prime mover in purchasing Speyside Distillery a few years back?
A – to realise my grandfather’s (Alec Harvey) dream of having the family return to the art of distilling and to secure our future supplies of malt whisky and quality bottling services.
Q; I have recently visited the distillery, where will you be looking to build the new one? I believe you have plans to build a new distillery near the existing site?
A -The area itself in and around Aviemore is naturally beautiful and we plan to build the second distillery very close to Aviemore itself.
Q; How will this affect production and annual quotas?
A– Production will increase from the current 600,000L to 1.2-1.7 million litres in the medium term.
Q; Where will you be selecting the new equipment from?
A- We have already ordered all our distilling equipment from Forsythes.
Q; Have you considered warehousing on site?
A– Yes we have considered it but believe that the two should still remain separate and that our artisan distillery skills are not distracted into warehousing.
Q; It will be a long term investment, are you confident the whisky industry will grow in that time – especially in your market?
A – Yes indeed it is however we believe it is the right decision for us. We have the rest of the world as our new markets and based on the success of Taiwan we firmly believe that China and Asia will be very big single malt whisky markets in the near future.
Q; Spey whisky currently sells 60,000 nine-litre cases in Taiwan, representing 90% of its annual sales. Do you have plans to move into a worldwide market once the new distillery is in production? And indeed, at the moment.
A – yes we do we already have partnerships in place which will develop our duty paid and duty free presence in strategic international markets in the very near future.
Q; I was lucky enough to sample the 12 year old, the 18 and the Tenne drams at the private tasting with Paul Dempsey recently, then Liz tasted even more (lucky Liz, I was driving), at our distillery visit, apart from these along with the MO range, do you have any plans to release an older age whisky in Scotland?
A – yes indeed we do … 2015 celebrates the 200 year anniversary of Lord Byron’s wedding in 1815 and in conjunction with the Lord Byron Society we will release some selected aged SPEY offerings within the coming 12 months.
Q; Moving back to the marketing side, can you tell me who designed the bottle and the labels?
A– Myself and our company designer Joanna Miller.
Q; Can you tell me anything about the Drumguish, Glentromie, Củ Dhub malts, and blends Glen Hood and Scottish Prince?
A – They are all our mainstream product with the exception of Cu Dhub which belongs to a third party.
Many thanks for your time John, I look forward to witnessing the growth of the Spey brand in the near future.
Thank you – our pleasure John Harvey McDonough
Paul’s note; if like me, you cannee wait for the bottles to be available here, let me know and if we can assist you, we shall!
