Moët Hennessy’s Glenmorangie Co. Focused On High-End Innovation

With single malt Scotch facing increased high-end competition from American whiskies and Tequila, brands are getting creative in their quest to find new consumers and hold onto market share. Within the 1.8-million-case category in the U.S., key malt labels have been forging partnerships with other luxury franchises and debuting high-profile ad campaigns while releasing a steady stream of upscale whiskies aimed at both high-end consumers and the collecting segment.

For Moët Hennessy-owned malts Glenmorangie and Ardbeg, the path forward is a combination of innovative new releases from whisky legend Dr. Bill Lumsden and the teams at the distilleries, as well as continuing to engage existing consumers while recruiting newcomers into the category.

Last year, Glenmorangie was at just under 90,000 cases in U.S. volume, according to Impact Databank, placing it among the category’s leading brands. While volume has declined the past few years alongside the wider category, it remains a priority for Moët Hennessy, which has continued to invest, especially in innovation. In 2022, Glenmorangie received a full packaging redesign, and since then has released a host of new whiskies, including last year’s limited edition A Tale of the Forest ($102), which ranked eighth among Whisky Advocate’s Top 20 Whiskies of the Year.

This year, says Caspar Macrae, president and CEO of the Glenmorangie Company, is a red letter year for the brand. “There are three big initiatives which are exciting for us. First, we just launched a concept and a product called Triple Cask Reserve, which is a new whisky entry point,” he tells SND. “I can’t tell you too much more about Bill’s experiments this year, but following A Tale of the Forest and A Tale of Tokyo, there will be another story being told by Dr. Bill and his whiskey creation team later this year.”

The third initiative, says Macrae, is the return of Glenmorangie’s 18-year-old whisky, newly dubbed Infinita. According to Macrae, the brand is positioned to bring in new consumers with the entry-level Triple Cask, treat longtime fans with the limited offering, and target the traditional high-end of the single malt Scotch market with Infinita.

For Islay-based distillery Ardbeg, 2024 will be year to refocus on core offerings like the flagship 10-year-old, Wee Beastie, and Uigeadail, says Macrae. Last year, Ardbeg was at 29,000 cases in the U.S. Part of this year’s programming for Ardbeg is the Masters of Smoke Tour, which will travel to more than 20 markets across the U.S. to introduce consumers to the brand and spur interest in the peaty whisky. The tour will take guests through the five different smoke profiles found in the whisky through a guided sensory experience.

Additionally, the distillery will release its special edition for its “Ardbeg Day: on June 1. This year’s release is Spectacular, a single malt aged mainly in Port pipes with a small amount of ex-Bourbon barrel whisky is blended in, says Macrae. “The whiskey itself, though, is weird—we use the term weird with Ardbeg a lot,” he says. “It’s weirdly delicious.”—Shane English

GET YOUR FIRST LOOK AT 2025 ESTIMATES AND 2030 PROJECTIONS FOR THE WINE AND SPIRITS INDUSTRIES. ORDER YOUR 2025 IMPACT DATABANK REPORTS. CLICK HERE.