To give you a snapshot into the evolving world whisky scene, let’s tune into the Tasmanian whisky landscape.

In 1992, Bill Lark and his wife, Lyn Lark, secured the first licence to make Tasmanian single malt spirit in 154 years. Today, there are “nearly 50 distilleries in Tasmania that are dedicated single malt whisky distilleries”, Bill Lark noted this year.

Although the growth is specific to Tasmania in Australia, it offers insight into growing interest in whiskies made outside of ‘traditional’ regions such as Scotland, Ireland, and the US.

“We’ve got so much more opportunity out there to appeal to curious whisky drinkers,” notes Davide Vitale, founder of Australian whisky brand Starward. “But I’ve been kind of affronted and concerned about the ‘neat pour’. People are really open minded about exploring whisky, and for me that’s moving it beyond the neat pour into great drinks that are mixed spirits, something they can have at the beginning of dinner, as opposed to at the end of one.”

He believes this opportunity is gaining momentum, particularly in Starward’s key international markets: the US, the UK and parts of continental Europe.

Independent bottlers are also exploring the world whisky category, and this year Berry Bros & Rudd unveiled the second batch of its Nordic Cask whisky range. The series comprises liquid sourced from Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.

Danish distiller Stauning has also been proactive in its product development this year, releasing a rye whisky finished in sweet-wine casks.

Alex Munch, co-founder of Stauning, said at the time: “The Sweet Wine Rye is part of a big project to find out which type of cask fits the character of Danish whisky. Over the next few years, we will see a lot of different bottlings come from this project. We vat different types of these casks together to find the best match and complexity. Could it be different fortified wines, or Calvados and stout beer, or mizunara wood or ex-Japanese rum casks? The future will tell.”

While Eurominitor International amalgamates all whiskies together, it does offer some insight into individual world whisky categories. Canadian whisky, for example, is expected to reach 23.3 million nine-litre cases by the end of 2022, up from 22.8m in 2021. Next year, this is forecast to marginally rise to 23.6m. This will be mirrored in the value sales, which should hit US$8.5m by the end of this year, growing to US$8.7m next year.

Japanese whisky is also looking positive, with sales by volume due to reach 14.9m cases in 2022, increasing to 15.4m next year. Value sales for the category also look strong, due to grow from an expected US$10m this year to US$11.3m in 2023 – an indication that premiumisation will be a leading contributor to the category’s success next year.

Brands to watch in 2023

Dunrobin

Canadian whisky producer Dunrobin Distilleries received a CA$5.5m (US$4m) cash injection from Swiss company Seven Seals Innovation in August to help both firms expand globally. At the time, Dunrobin co-founder and president Mark Watson said the investment marked “our transition from microdistillery to mid-tier producer and distributor”. We’re expecting to see lots of activity, particularly across North America and Europe, in the coming year.

Cotswolds Distillery

English whisky maker the Cotswolds Distillery received £3m in funding to quadruple its alcohol production. While this won’t translate into whisky volumes for several years, the money was also earmarked to support the brand’s international growth. The company hopes to enhance existing sales in the US, France, Germany, China and Australia, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on these regions.

Legacy

India’s penchant for whisky is no secret; it is the number-one market globally for whisky. With this knowledge, in November Bacardi tapped into the Indian whisky segment with the launch of Legacy. In recent years, we’ve seen new Indian whisky brands surpass the million-case mark in the first year of business. With Bacardi’s know-how for creating successful brands, could Legacy be next?