budget - BourbonSphere

Scotch Whisky Association Blasts UK Excise Tax Hike

The Scotch Whisky industry is accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government of going back on its campaign promise to back Scotch makers “to the hilt.”… Read More

The Scotch Whisky industry is accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government of going back on its campaign promise to back Scotch makers “to the hilt.” Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first budget address to Parliament Wednesday included a 2.7% excise tax increase on distilled spirits in line with inflation, while giving a tax break to beer and cider served on draught in the on-premise market.

“Just raising further tax does not mean you’re going to get more money into the revenue for the Exchequer for public services, and indeed, the government figures show the opposite is the case,” Scotch Whisky Association chief executive Mark Kent told WhiskyCast in an interview. “The last time that the previous Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, raised the tax rate by 10.1%, that led to a fall in 300 million pounds for the treasury revenue…what we’ve seen as a result of this is that we’ve been put at a further competitive disadvantage to other alcohol categories such as beer and cider.”

Kent said the tax hike will damage the Scotch Whisky industry as well as the Scottish economy and undermines the Labour government’s commitment to “Brand Scotland,” given that 70% of UK spirits are produced in Scotland. The increase will take the tax bite on an average bottle of Scotch to above £12 for the first time.

Behind the Scenes at a Spirits Competition

Ever wanted to find out how a spirits competition works? This week, we’ll take you inside the recent American Craft Spirits Association’s annual judging of… Read More

Ever wanted to find out how a spirits competition works? This week, we’ll take you inside the recent American Craft Spirits Association’s annual judging of craft spirits to show you how the judging process works. It only takes a couple of minutes for trained judges to assess a whisky’s aroma, flavor and finish and determine a score. In the news, American electoral politics could affect the price you pay for whiskies in the future, no matter where you live in the world.

Dear TTB: What’s Taking So Long?

Two years ago, the Treasury Department’s Tax & Trade Bureau opened the bureaucratic process for issuing an official definition of American Single Malt Whisky. After… Read More

Two years ago, the Treasury Department’s Tax & Trade Bureau opened the bureaucratic process for issuing an official definition of American Single Malt Whisky. After a brief public comment period, the agency has yet to act on the proposal, and that has distillers of American Single Malts frustrated with the lack of action. We’ll talk with Steve Hawley, executive director of the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission, about a new campaign to put pressure on the TTB to act. In the news, Diageo reports a sales decline for its fiscal year, while Campari beat analyst forecasts despite economic headwinds. We’ll taste three American Single Malts in the What I’m Tasting This Week Department, and in our Behind the Label segment, we’ll explain why “bottled in bond” doesn’t just apply to Bourbons.

Episode 1068: August 4, 2024

Mark Reynier: Whisky’s Enfant Terrible

Waterford Distillery founder Mark Reynier has no shortage of opinions about how he feels whisky should be made, and he’s putting those opinions into the… Read More

Waterford Distillery founder Mark Reynier has no shortage of opinions about how he feels whisky should be made, and he’s putting those opinions into the bottle. Reynier has butted heads with the whisky establishment many times over the years because of his passion for flavor above all else, critics be damned. He’ll share some of his opinions with us on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Compass Box founder John Glaser is stepping down after 23 years, while there’s both good and bad news about whisky exports.

Episode 1046: March 3, 2024

A Commitment to Sustainable Whisky

Scotland’s Nc’Nean Distillery is one of a handful of whisky distilleries certified as “B Corp” for their sustainability efforts. At Nc’Nean, that goes all the… Read More

Scotland’s Nc’Nean Distillery is one of a handful of whisky distilleries certified as “B Corp” for their sustainability efforts. At Nc’Nean, that goes all the way to the use of renewable energy for the distillery and using recycled glass for its bottles. We’ll talk with founder Annabel Thomas about the challenges of making whisky sustainably and organically on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, the founder of Bimber and Dunphail distilleries has stepped aside following his arrest on two-decade old charges in his native Poland, while Kentucky lawmakers are trying to close loopholes in the state’s Vintage Distilled Spirits law.

Episode 1045: February 25, 2024

Image courtesy Nc’Nean Distillery.

Tennessee Whiskey’s Lost History

History changes all the time as we uncover new facts about the past, and historian Drew Hannush’s new book shakes up some of the history… Read More

History changes all the time as we uncover new facts about the past, and historian Drew Hannush’s new book shakes up some of the history of Tennessee Whiskey. For starters, “The Lost History of Tennessee Whiskey” sheds new light on the origin stories of Jack Daniel’s and the Lincoln County Process. We’ll talk with Drew Hannush on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Heaven Hill is closing its bottling operations in Canada, while Irish Distillers is getting out of the beer business.

Episode 1041: January 28, 2024

Northern Ireland’s Distilling Resurgence

There was a time when Belfast and the surrounding counties led the world in whisky production. Several factors led to that tradition all but disappearing… Read More

There was a time when Belfast and the surrounding counties led the world in whisky production. Several factors led to that tradition all but disappearing over the last century, but now, the six counties of Northern Ireland are bringing new life to their distilling heritage. We’ll visit several of the country’s distilleries on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Chivas Brothers faces holiday strikes by distillery and bottling plant workers, while UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has given the country’s distillers a break by freezing excise taxes.

Episode 1032: November 26, 2023

Through the Years with Dewar’s Master Blender Stephanie Macleod

WhiskyCast celebrates our 18th anniversary this week, and Stephanie Macleod has been the Master Blender for Dewar’s almost as long. She was named Master Blender… Read More

WhiskyCast celebrates our 18th anniversary this week, and Stephanie Macleod has been the Master Blender for Dewar’s almost as long. She was named Master Blender in 2006, and has won a shelf full of awards for her work since then. Stephanie joins us this week on WhiskyCast In-Depth to discuss malts, the relationship between blender and distiller, and her role in bringing along the next generation of women in the whisky industry.

Episode 1030: November 12, 2023

Scotch Whisky Association Calls for Fairness in Autumn Budget

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt is preparing the government’s autumn budget statement to be delivered to Parliament next month, and the Scotch Whisky… Read More

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt is preparing the government’s autumn budget statement to be delivered to Parliament next month, and the Scotch Whisky Association is hoping for better treatment than it got last spring. Hunt’s spring budget included a 10.1% increase in excise duty on Scotch Whisky and other distilled spirits, which left the industry crying foul.

SWA leaders are asking Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government to remember the Conservative Party’s pledge to support the Scotch Whisky industry with a #SupportScotch campaign. The association blames the tax hike for alcohol’s high inflation rate, along with unfair tax treatment compared to cider, beer, and wine, and wants Hunt to freeze or reduce spirits duty in the autumn budget.

Taxes currently make up 75% of the average cost of a bottle of Scotch Whisky in the UK.

This story will be updated with additional information.

Eight Special Single Malts…and a Cowboy Bourbon

We’ll have a double feature on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth, as Diageo’s Dr. Stuart Morrison joins us to detail this year’s Special Releases series –… Read More

We’ll have a double feature on this week’s WhiskyCast In-Depth, as Diageo’s Dr. Stuart Morrison joins us to detail this year’s Special Releases series – including a Lagavulin finished in tequila casks – and Donnis Todd of Texas’s Garrison Brothers Distillery gives us a preview of this year’s Cowboy Bourbon. It’s an uncut, unfiltered whopper of a Bourbon at 70.45% ABV! In the news, the TTB avoids being caught up in a U.S. government shutdown after Congress passed a short-term budget extension. Kentucky regulators want to shut down two of the state’s biggest buyers and sellers of vintage spirits over liquor law violations, and Scotch Whisky tourism has recovered from the pandemic.

Episode 1024: October 1, 2023