Suntory Holdings Limited

Good to know.

That's what they want to hear at Maker's Mark and Suntory.

The movie Outbreak was actually at Maker's Mark.

That's right.

They're all...

Suntory.

They're all under investigation of potential...

The article says cartel, but...

And I think that's the part that's the hardest, especially if you're a young entrepreneur and you don't have a big team, you don't want to be sucked into a group think that it'll waste your time and money.

I've worked with Suntory.

I've worked on lots of wine brands.

I've worked with Asahi.

Look, these are intriguing times for relaxing times.

Make it Suntory times.

But these are intriguing times, and there could be more deals as soon as today.

The Colts are open for business.

Right.

So they've got the Suntory minus 196 lemon or grapefruit Chuhai, which is 6%.

It's not 9%.

It's not strong zero.

Is demand for the water of life running dry? I've just returned from a trip to Islay in Scotland which has more whisky distilleries per square mile than anywhere else in the UK and several of its famous single malts are struggling.

Suntory, which owns Beaumont and Laphroaig, announced in February that it was merging the staff of the two brands, with Beaumont ceasing production until the end of the year and Laphroaig putting its planned expansion on hold.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury's recently dropped the price of a bottle of eight-year-old Lagavulin to £40, down from its recommended retail price of £52.50. Are we in the foothills of a global whisky recession? Alice, from the Lagavulin Visitors' Centre, who took Caroline and me on a tour on Sunday morning, seemed fairly bullish.

She pointed out that the Diageo-owned distillery is still producing about 2.5 million litres of pure alcohol each year, enough for 8 million bottles, although not that many will reach the shelves.

Is demand for the water of life running dry? I've just returned from a trip to Islay in Scotland, which has more whisky distilleries per square mile than anywhere else in the UK and several of its famous single malts are struggling.

Suntory, which owns Beaumont and Laphroaig, announced in February that it was merging the staff of the two brands, with Beaumont ceasing production until the end of the year and Laphroaig putting its planned expansion on hold.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury's recently dropped the price of a bottle of eight-year-old Lagavulin to £40, down from its recommended retail price of £52.50. Are we in the foothills of a global whisky recession? Alice, from the Lagavulin Visitors' Centre, who took Caroline and me on a tour on Sunday morning, seemed fairly bullish.

She pointed out that the Diageo-owned distillery is still producing about 2.5 million litres of pure alcohol each year, enough for 8 million bottles, although not that many will reach the shelves.