Tariffs could create ‘more opportunities’ for experimentation

While the threat of tariffs continues to cause uncertainty and concern for the spirits industry, some producers are looking at the potential bright side to the situation.

Following US president Donald Trump’s threat of 200% tariffs on spirits from the European Union, Adam Hannett, head distiller of Bruichladdich Distillery, told The Spirits Business what tariffs could mean to the Islay-based spirits company should the US impose them on the UK.

“When tariffs were put on whisky before, it did have a big impact on us, and actually, as a distillery, we chose to not pass that cost onto the consumer – we took that hit ourselves,” Hannett said. “Going forward, long term with big tariffs, I don’t know if we would be in a position to do that, so maybe the cost would go up. I don’t think there’s ever any winners in that kind of thing.”

However, speculating on whether tariffs could have a knock-on effect on the availability of Bourbon casks, which Hannet explained were used a lot in the ageing of Bruichladdich’s single malt whiskies, he shared this might create an opportunity for experimentation.

“When you think about how [tariffs] are affecting Bourbon, if they’re emptying less casks, there’s less availability [for us],” he continued.

“We fill a lot of first-fill Bourbon barrels because when you taste that Islay barley, it works beautifully, so we do rely on them quite a lot.

“What we generally do is we then fill them a second time, but then after that we don’t have a use for it. We might put a few third-fills, but not really, and so we sell the cask back to [a] cooperage or do something else with it, so we’re only getting a couple of uses from that wood.”

However, Hannett noted that Bruichladdich Distillery, which is certified B Corp, was conscious of its sustainability efforts.

“We think about being more sustainable, getting better use from things,” he explained. “And again, as the cost goes up we want to manage things better.

“We have started a process of de-char/re-char with the cooperage, so rather than just getting rid of the cask and getting new ones all the time, we’re actually rejuvenating the wood and bringing new life back into it.”

As a result, Hannett said the distillery has been “buying less first-fill barrels and using more of our own second- and third-fill barrels a bit longer, which brings in new flavours, and creates more opportunities for flavour”.

He predicted that if a Bourbon barrel shortage were to kick in, “there will be a lot of distilleries that would want to reuse a lot of oak that way”.

Hannett said: “Looking around our warehouses, we have so many different types of casks that we use, there’s always going to be that avenue as well. Its always worked really well for us, and maybe it creates more opportunities for other people to experiment and do different things.

“But I would imagine it’s initially just going to sow a lot of chaos and confusion, which is just what we don’t need.”