DRAMBUIE FOR SALE

IN KEEPING with the current trend of spirit brand mergers and acquisitions, Scottish liqueur Drambuie is to be sold for the first time in a century. The MacKinnon family that owns the brand hopes to capitalize on the booming cocktail market and a thirst for heritage brands from Asian companies looking for international expansion. A sale of the liqueur would follow the recent £43Om (US $72O.6m) sale of Whyte & Mackay Scotch to Emperador, the Philippines-based brandy group, and January’s $16 billion acquisition by Japan’s Suntory Holdings of Beam. The world’s biggest spirits makers – Diageo and Pernod Ricard – are also on the hunt for acquisitions. Drambuie can trace its heritage back to 1746 when Prince Charles Edward Stuart was on the run, after defeat at the Battle of Culloden ended his hopes of restoring the Stuarts to the British throne. Bonnie Prince Charlie gave the secret recipe for his personal liqueur to John MacKinnon as thanks to the Scottish clansman for aiding his escape from the Isle of Skye. Drambuie had a role in popular culture when it became the main ingredient for the Rusty Nail, the 195Os signature cocktail of “Rat Pack” singers Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. But Drambuie’s profile has diminished in the face of stiff competition and the growing importance of China to spirits sales. The brand employs 21 people and has a market value of around £1OOm (US $167.6m), according to analysts’ estimates. Morrison Bowmore in Glasgow has the contract to manufacture the drink – a blend of Scotch whisky, herbs, spices and honey. Morrison Bowmore is owned by Suntory and serves as the Japanese group’s European distribution arm for its whisky portfolio.