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BrewDog to bring ‘energy and character’ to Scotch

BrewDog Distilling will “do to spirits what BrewDog Brewing did for beer” and re-energise whisky’s “old, dusty, fuddy-duddy image”, according to MD David Gates.

BrewDog Distilling MD David Gates says the company will bring “energy and character” to Scotch

Gates joined the Aberdeen-based brewer and distiller in November 2018 from Diageo.

Under his leadership, the “punk” brewer’s distilling arm rebranded as BrewDog Distilling, released a new brand of vodka and gin and created a series of collaborative whiskies.

The brand is now moving ever closer to the launch of its whisky, which Gates described as “the spiky shot in the arm that takes whisky’s old, dusty, fuddy-duddy image and gives it a bit of energy and character”.

Gates said: “Our mission is to really rejuvenate the Scotch whisky industry. We want to get people in the UK drinking Scotch again, because it’s our national drink.

“It’s about doing to spirits, and I would add in parenthesis whisky, what BrewDog Brewing did for beer. If we can help drive that rejuvenation and make Scotch epically cool then that would be the main ambition for BrewDog Distilling in the UK.

“If we can do what we did for beer to whisky then we will put our feet up and retire.”

The team is working to launch its first Ellon-distilled whisky, which will follow the 2016 debut of Uncle Duke’s, made using sourced liquid.

Gates added: “We’re really excited about that and we’re hoping to launch it next year. We kind of think we aren’t going to get too many bites of that particular cherry, so we need to love it before we release it.”

Earlier this year, the Scottish company partnered with whisky makers Duncan Taylor, Compass Box and Zuidam to create three whiskies designed to be drunk alongside three of its beers, Punk IPA, Dead Pony and Jet Black Heart.

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