Pernod Ricard plans return of The Glenlivet 12

Pernod Ricard has confirmed The Glenlivet 12-year-old will be reintroduced in three years after it was replaced by no-age-statement (NAS) Founder’s Reserve due to aged whisky stock shortages.

Speaking at a roundtable in London on Tuesday (5 September), Laurent Lacassagne, CEO of Chivas Brothers, said the group had always planned to reintroduce the 12-year-old expression once stocks of its aged whiskies had improved.

The Glenlivet 12-year-old was discontinued in numerous markets around the world in 2015, replaced instead by The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve, however the age-statement expression remained available in the US.

“It has been our plan since the beginning to reintroduce the 12-year-old,” said Lacassagne. “We hit this ceiling a few years ago; we had no option, so we had to review the portfolio.

“We managed to see a very successful brand with Founder’s Reserve. We are selling around 300,000 cases [of Founder’s Reserve a year].

“This success has given us the opportunity to continue our growth and momentum of our brand, and finally it’s also taken a little pressure off the age range and especially the 12-year-old, which we will allocate to certain markets.

“So in the next three years, we will reintroduce the 12-year-old.”