Published in Whisky Magazine Issue 55 on 14/04/2006.

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A stupid move

Plans to ban drinking from a glass in pubs and clubs in Scotland are wrong,says Dominic Roskrow

Once upon a time the drinks trade went through a quiet stage just after Christmas until Spring, and again for a month during summer. No more.

Such is the success of whisky at the moment that it’s not just a case of 24/7 but 31/12, too.

Even February seemed to have 31 days. And after a period of self-imposed exile and relative calm February and March was the professional equivalent to getting swept down the Sound of Jura. Most of what is going on is happy and positive, and there can be no doubt that the interest in the sector continues unabated.

But occasionally alarm bells have been sounding, too. The most serious of these is the decision by the licensing authorities in Glasgow and Edinburgh to move towards banning glasses in city centre pubs and clubs.

Let’s make no bones about this. It is a stupid, incomprehensible and thoroughly retrogressive step. The theory is that removing glass will reduce serious acts of violence in the cities – a noble enough idea in principle.

But hold on – are Edinburgh and Glasgow that much more violent than other major ‘civilised’ cities? Do these councils really want to highlight the fact that their city centres are apparently out of control? And by doing this aren’t they just sending out a message to visitors that at night these are no-go areas? Is glass crime that significant? Presumably the introduction of plastic cutlery at city centre restaurants and the use of paper pool cues is just around the corner.

Ever drank a Highland Park 25 year old out of a plastic beaker? Everything special about the malt, the occasion, and the presentation is removed in one stroke. It’s like serving caviar in a chip packet.

There’s another point, too. There have been exemptions, nearly all to venues serving fine wine or Champagne. That smacks of appalling elitism. The bottom line is this; idiots who fight with glasses should be locked up and pubs where such incidents happen often should be shut down. But forcing bars to use plastic and swimming against the tide towards responsible drinking and the understanding of matching premium glassware with different drinks might well come back to haunt Scotland.

It’s for these reasons that I was concerned by the publicity surrounding Bruichladdich’s quadruple-distilled whisky. I described it as a gimmick and was quoted as saying that I feared that focusing on alcoholic strength would send the wrong message to the sort of people who believe we can’t be trusted to smoke, or to drink spirits out of a grown-up glass. I stand by that.

But I have to say that it’s the best new-make spirit I’ve ever tasted. I’m not particularly fond of the cerealy, estery notes normally associated with new-make spirit, but this one is packed with a complex and surprising mix of fruit flavours once you get past the alcohol.

I believe that products like this and Compass Box’s Spice Tree are operating at the margins and are setting challenges to a new generation of educated consumer which demands this sort of innovation. The industry seems to agree as it voted Compass Box our Innovator of the Year in the week that Spice Tree was ruled ‘illegal.’ I know limits have to be set but I have a horrendous bottle of something called Red Devil in my cupboard – a foul and unScotchlike mix of Bell’s and chilis. Some things work, some don’t.

But if we’re going to achieve the targets Dave Broom sets out in his column, we need to push at the margins and excite a new generation of drinkers.We could start by opposing the glass ban. And encouraging anyone prepared to try something new.

By Dominic Roskrow

Section : From the Editor

Page number : 5