Kristall became the owner of the Russian whiskey brand William Scott

The Russian whiskey brand William Scott, which was part of the portfolio of the distributor Status Group, was transferred to the Kaluga distillery Kristall. The company plans to relaunch the brand in 2024, using distillates from Scotland. The share of local brands in the market is growing, but the shortage of Scottish spirits is leading to an increase in the cost of raw materials, market participants say.

In February 2024, KLVZ Kristall became the owner of the William Scott trademark, which was previously part of the portfolio of the alcohol distributor Status Group, as follows from Rospatent data. Under the William Scott brand, Status Group sold whiskey made from Scottish Loch Lomond spirits. As stated in the materials of the Guild of Marketers, in 2013, the first year of the brand’s existence, 28 thousand decalitres of the drink were sold and the brand entered the top 15 brands in the “standard” price segment. But the project was closed due to a change of owners and management, according to the guild’s website.

“Status Group” was previously considered the main seller of inexpensive vodka “Dobry Medved” and “Kalina Krasnaya”. In 2016, after inspections by law enforcement agencies, several factories producing products for Status Group were shut down; a year later, the distributor filed for bankruptcy. The beneficiary of the company was the former head of Rosalkogolregulirovanie (today Rosalkogoltabakcontrol) Igor Chuyan.

The Kristall distillery told Kommersant that they plan to relaunch William Scott whiskey by the end of 2024. In 2013–2015, as research has shown, this whiskey was one of the most popular in Russia, the company noted. The Crystal distillery added that Scottish distillate will be used for bottling, and the label design will change.

KLVZ “Kristall” produces vodka, liqueurs, liqueurs under the brands Bionica, Old Park, etc. According to data from market participants, in 2023 the plant produced 2.1 million dal of vodka, taking 12th place among producers . In February 2024, PJSC Crystal Alcohol Group, which owns the plant, held an IPO on the Moscow Exchange, placing 13.1% of the capital, which made it possible to raise 1.15 billion rubles.

The owner of the Kaufman brand agency, Stanislav Kaufman, notes that the William Scott brand has not been present on the market for a long time and, given the many local whiskey brands that have appeared in recent years, it is unlikely to be recognizable. The new owner either believes in the success of a particular brand, or did not have the opportunity or desire to create his own brand, he notes. Secretary of the Alcopro guild Andrey Moskovsky points out that all major alcohol producers have whiskey brands with stable sales and reserved volumes of alcohol supplies from Scotland, so it can be difficult to get on the shelf and compete.

President of Ladoga (Fowler’s whiskey) Veniamin Grabar warns that the import of Scottish distillates remains difficult, including due to the refusal of distilleries to work directly with the Russian Federation and the general shortage of alcohols. The Alcohol Siberian Group (ASG; Sea Witch whiskey) says that Scottish distillates are valued by consumers, but due to the shortage, prices have increased significantly, and for Russian companies the situation is aggravated by dependence on exchange rates. Tatspirtprom noted that they launched their production of distillates for whiskey with a capacity of 80 thousand decaliters per year.

According to NielsenIQ, in 2023, whiskey sales in Russia grew by 12% in volume terms and by 8.8% in money terms year-on-year. The fastest growth rates—by 56% in volume and 45.7% in money—were shown by brands in the low price segment. The share of such brands in natural whiskey sales in 2023 increased from 34.2% to 47.6% year-on-year, the share of mid-segment brands decreased from 34.2% to 29.6%, premium – from 29.7% to 20 .8%, calculated by NielsenIQ.

ASG says that Russian brands already account for 60% of whiskey sales, and expect that the segment of drinks priced at 700–800 rubles. per bottle will continue to grow due to local players. Commercial Director of Stellar Group (Steersman) Alexander Grevtsov predicts that whiskey will remain a growing category for several more years.

Anatoly Kostyrev