CEO Monthly April 2017

CEO MONTHLY / APRIL 2017 21 , Moji Shand, CEO of Duncan Taylor ScotchWhisky, talks openly about the firm, the industry and the challenges it faces in the future. Whisky Connoisseurs Throughout the World Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky is an award-winning, independently owned scotch whisky merchant based in the north-east of Scotland. They own one of the world’s largest privately-held collections of rare and vintage scotch whisky casks. The Company’s focus is on cask maturation, independent bottling and also blending of one of the world’s best blended Scotch whisky, Black Bull. Duncan Taylor’s branded products are available to whisky connoisseurs throughout the world. Duncan Taylor has won several global awards in the last year. Most notably, at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition and China Wine & Spirits Awards. In December, their Octave collection won 7 awards at the Independent Bottlers’ Challenge run by world- renowned Whisky Magazine. Moji Shand is the CEO of Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky. She tells us more about the firm and her role. “Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky has been in existence since 1938 and has since grown into a global brand, selling in 50 plus markets worldwide. We have several brands under the umbrella of Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky. Our portfolio includes The Dimensions, The Octave, The Single, The Tantalus and The Rarest. In addition to the Single Malt and Single Grain range, we also produce several blended products including The Smokin and The Big Smoke. The main range in our blend portfolio is Black Bull which has won a plethora of awards and has 6 whiskies to appeal to all palates - Black Bull Kyloe, 8, 12, 21, 30 up to a limited-edition 40-year-old blend. “Our stunning Tantalus collection brings together some of the most sought after vintages from some of Scotland’s rarest distilleries, including some closed distilleries. Each whisky is packaged in hand-blown decanters and housed in a handmade oak ‘Tantalus’, produced from the very casks that matured it to perfection. And finally, The Rarest Collection contains just as it sounds, some of the world’s rarest Scotch Whiskies that exists today, including Macallan, Bowmore, and Kinclaith, all from the vintage 1960’s era. “Our HQ is based in Scotland and we also have offices in the US. No two days are the same. I start the day by trying to prioritise what is important for the business and working my way through that. I work very closely with the team at Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky in both Scotland and U.S., as well as our PR & marketing company and external sales team. We are always looking at our products, what sells well, where we are stocked and assessing what we can do to highlight our products to the wider market. I continually look at routes to market. As a trained lawyer, I also deal with all the legal aspects for the company.” The staff at Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky play a huge part in the firm’s overall success, as Moji tells us: “We prefer to refer to our members of staff as team members and every team member in our company has a different yet important role to play in the success of the firm. From the Master Blender, Bottling Hall Manager, production, packaging, labelling, sales and marketing, they all play an important part. The success of the firm is all down to the team we have. We have a dedicated, loyal, and passionate team who go above and beyond their call of duty to ensure Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky is one of the most leading and innovative companies in our industry. We don’t have a high turnover of staff and I think that is proof that our staff enjoy working at Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky. “We get a lot of very positive feedback from customers. Since opening our US. based office in 2012 we have grown our profile in the U.S. significantly, multiplying sales in that region, resulting in one of the best ever years in 2016 for sales which was extremely encouraging. We do sponsor and attend quite a lot of high-profile events. With Black Bull, we sponsor a British GT Motor Racing team. We also were sponsors of the prestigious Hollywood world-famous Critics’ Choice Awards Ceremony, which gives us the chance to showcase our whiskies to a new market. We have a high percentage of returning custom which cements to us we are producing whiskies that people enjoy and want to buy again.” With regards to the wide picture, Moji elaborates on what challenges and opportunities lie ahead for the company in the not-too-distant future. “Obviously, the main thing to touch on here would be Brexit,” she states. “We think it will produce opportunities and challenges going forward and we watch it closely to see what impact it will have on the whisky industry. “Personally, for Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky, we are looking to build a Cask Warehouse and potentially a distillery at some point in the future, along with some other exciting projects. We expect there will be many challenges along the way but it will produce many opportunities for us in the future.”