Make the malt come alive

"We would like to see the on-trade being used as an environment where consumers can try different malts, learning likes and dislikes and opening up dialogue with friends and the licensee. The pub offers a good opportunity to trial without the need to purchase a whole bottle. On the whole, pubs don't tend to encourage experimentation. To achieve this, single malts need to be moved off the 'dusty shelf'."​

So says Drew Munro, marketing director at Beam Brands. While blends are struggling for sales there is a much bigger buzz surrounding single malts and pubs. Consumers' growing appetite for premium products (seen across the board in food and drink) means the future could be bright.

Statistics from AC Nielsen show year-on-year growth for more than half the brands in the on-trade top 10. But aside from brands like Glenfiddich, single malts suffer from an identity crisis. Many a

single malt drinker enjoys the mystery of single malt - the discovery of new and exciting varieties. But on the other hand this puts off new drinkers. As Munro points out above, there is definitely a big role pubs can play through experimentation and education.

However, is quirky and inventive marketing the best way to present single malts to potential drinkers? Lindsay Tier, senior brand manager for leading single malt Glenfiddich, says a well-targeted campaign can reap rewards.

"We've done a lot of work focusing on our 'Conversations' campaign, which looks at the exact moments consumers are going to drink whisky," she says. "And then it's about being sharp at targeting those moments. Whatever kind of pub you run there is always a need for a product that adds something special. You just need to carefully think about your core range."

John Glaser has moved from the big brand world of Johnnie Walker into boutique whisky making. His company, Compass Box, makes a variety of vatted malt whiskies (a blend of different single malts). He is convinced that premium blends like his and top single malts have a bright future in pubs.

"Our whiskies will work in the kind of pubs that take an interest in their food and wine," he says. "Because you then draw people who are similarly interested and they will then be interested in our products.

"The future for whisky priced at £20 a bottle and over is extremely bright. And slowly I think pubs are buying into those kinds of whiskies."

On the Talisker Trek

Phil Mellows went to the Isle of Skye to see how Diageo is promoting Talisker, the brand that has become the drinks giant's flagship single malt whisky

Smooth. It's a word people use when they describe a whisky they like. Perhaps it is used a little too often. The discovery of malt whiskies in particular is often a discovery of sharp edges, the jagged peaks and ridges that define its character.

There is arguably no single malt whisky of which that is more true than Talisker. Born amid the wild, soaring terrain of the Black Cuillin mountains on the Isle of Skye, like most malts it is in harmony with its homeland.

It's not what you would call a rough whisky. Not at all. But you are more likely to describe it as rugged, explosive even, rather than smooth.

Distillery manager Charlie Smith is deeply respectful of this mysterious relationship between landscape and spirit.

"Talisker reflects its origins in the Black Cuillins. They are stark, like Talisker," he says. "Location insinuates itself in some way in the whisky. The whisky feels comfortable in its location."

Getting a feel for what this means in May this year were a couple of hundred outdoor types on the Talisker Trek, a two-day expedition through the Skye wilderness finishing up at the distillery.

It was an unusual kind of sponsorship but a great fit for the brand, argues marketing manager at its owner, Diageo, Marianne Hawkins. "There is a strong affinity between malt whisky drinkers and people who work hard and enjoy getting about," she explains. "They may not be whisky experts but they do like malt. Here they can get a sense of Talisker and can identify with the brand's values."

As well as firming up Talisker's profile among this narrow audience of adventurers, the trek brought nationwide publicity to the brand, thanks in large part to celebrity trekkers like Britain's most famous living explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, and rugby legend Dean Richards.

"They are celebrities who also reflect the ruggedness of Skye," says Marianne. "They are real heroes for the target market."

The success of the Talisker Trek will go towards Diageo's ambitions for the whisky. It has been selected as the lead malt for the company ahead of the other five brands in the Classic Malts range.

"Talisker is our star," says Marianne. "It has got real potential as a malt for people who want to go beyond the glens, it's a bit more individual."

Anyone attending Diageo's latest training programme for publicans and staff, 360 ESP, will notice that it is one of the key brands the company is using to promote the benefits of premium spirits to the pub trade.

As such, it will also have the support of premium brand ambassadors working in the on-trade who are helping train barstaff and arming them with the colourful background stories, as well as the serving skills and mixing ideas that will help them promote Talisker among their customers.

The strategy has also seen Talisker leave the back-bar shelf for the spirits rail for the first time. Some 400 outlets now have the brand on dispense and first indications suggest remarkable results from the improved visibility. A number of freetrade pubs have seen sales rise by up to 600 per cent.

Diageo plans to make a link with food, too. "I think we'll be bringing a chef along on the next trek," says Marianne.