Macduff International says demand for its miniature Lauder’s bottle, which launched last year, has “outstripped its expectations”.
The company originally produced 71,000 5cl bottles but, due to high demand, has increased this number to 215,000.
“Demand has played havoc with production and planning as shipments were more than treble the forecasted volume,” said Macduff.
Macduff Managing Director David Sloan commented: “The feedback we have received ranges from consumers buying because it is cute to buying because it is the right size for sampling or gifting.”
In response to the popularity of the miniature, Macduff introduced a gift pack of minis containing three Lauder’s variants. Macduff said this had played a big part in the “explosive growth” of the miniature bottle.
According to Macduff, Lauder’s is now the fifth best-selling Scotch blended whisky in Europe travel retail and eighth in global travel retail.
“All in all it has been a great year for Lauder’s,” said Sloan. “In Asia we expect to build further on domestic growth and obtain new travel retail listings in the region. In addition, we have just bottled the second batch of our luxurious 25yo from Lauder’s.”
Grand Macnish
Sloan revealed that a limited quantity of aged Grand Macnish whisky is currently maturing in special casks, with bottling planned for summer 2018. The new Grand Macnish Double Matured range will comprise a 13yo finished in sweet Caribbean rum barrels and a 15yo finished in sherry casks. This range will first launch in the USA and, according to Sloan, Asian domestic markets are already voicing their interest.
