Glenmorangie hits allocation problems

Published: 23 July, 2008

By Christian Davis

Glenmorangie's latest wood-finish single-malt whisky is Cte de Nuits - aged in casks from the Burgundy region. Only 2,000 bottles, priced at 125, are available worldwide. The company is claiming an industry first by making its Malaga Wood Finish single malt available only through the brand's website, www.glenmorangie.com Nevertheless, the site has been plundered by specialist whisky retailers selling Malaga Wood Finish, which sells at 60 a bottle, on to their collector customers. At the formal launch there was friction between retailers and Glenmorangie over allocations, particularly to Oddbins where some store managers have sold on their allocations to the specialists. One retailer, who wished to remain anonymous, told Harpers Oddbins was allocated an average of 1.6 bottles for each of its 240 shops while specialists got between one and two cases of six. Store managers from the selected Oddbins stores that carried the bulk of the stock, then offered their allocation to the specialists. To meet the demand and fulfil the expectations of their customers, the specialists feel obliged to take the allocation and sell it on at the same price, taking a loss due to postage and packaging. Glenmorangie declined to comment.

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