New horses, new gin #3
“Princess, that’s no’ what I said or meant,” Marlin replied calmly. “You know well enough that I only invest in projects I expect to succeed.” He stared directly at her with his piercing blue-grey eyes, but Shona was still not fully convinced.
Now that supported the investment banker theory, and Marlin was really consistent in this regard.
He had also supported Alex and Isla when they built their businesses.
The only exception was Lennox, his creative but erratic and wilful younger son.
Marlin had completely cut him off. But she still had her doubts.
Of course she knew she was Daddy’s favourite and that he wasn’t as strict with her as he was with his other children ...
“Shona, what’s your problem?” Kieran Gibbs intervened.
“I happen to know for a fact that you are a natural at making whisky as I trained you myself. Your Alpaca Golden will be a success, no question about it. But I also know how difficult the market is, even for long-established distilleries. You have the opportunity to add a second product, and this will give you a chance to create an even clearer profile for your whisky.”
She gave her mentor and trainer a questioning look. “The bottom line is that I have to cut back on the whisky production if I want to make more gin. I only have limited storage facilities. Especially if I consider having my own bottling plant, which would really make sense for gin.”
“Aye, but limitation could be a big opportunity. Because it allows you to continue exactly as you originally planned: using only organic barley from Kirkby for your whisky. It’s a strong USP. And believe me, the organic stuff will become even more popular in the years to come.”
“But organic barley from Kirkby is a bloody rare commodity. The most I can get out of this year’s harvest is two batches.
More likely only one, given how much you lose in the malting plant.
And then I’ll have to wait until next year’s harvest. That doesn’t make sense!
I was planning to buy more barley from outside because my business plan ... ”
“Exactly,” Kieran cut in. “Listen, lass, shelve that business plan! So what if your first year only ends in two batches? Imagine how rare and expensive they’ll be!
And get talking to the farmers now so they’ll grow more barley next year and sell it exclusively to you.
Maybe some local farmers will even move to organic farming just for your distillery.
That would benefit the entire region. And you could offer them a good price.
Think about the opportunities that would give you.
And in the meantime, you make your phenomenal gin and some serious money.
I don’t need to tell you how much easier it is to make gin, which is another advantage in itself. ”
Shona slumped further down in her chair and, lost in thought, stroked Nessie, who was lying next to her and happily chewing her cud.
She felt taken by surprise … No, she felt railroaded!
Were these four conspiring against her? Then again, their arguments were solid.
It really did take so much less time to make gin than whisky, which would free her up to do other things.
For example, finish setting up the shop.
Or purchase some unusual barrels to store next year’s whisky.
Or even have some fun and go on a few dates ...
Nevertheless, this change of strategy didn’t really fit in with her plans or her vision of becoming the future Queen of Whisky.
“Come on, Shona, what’s your problem?” Collum interrupted her thoughts. “This is a sure win for you. For all of us, really.”
She sighed because another thought had struck her. “That’s right. We all win, and especially Isla.”
“Why is that?” Marlin wanted to know.
“Because my enterprising sister insisted on a fifty percent share of the profits for creating the perfect gin,” she replied gloomily.
“Well, then Isla had the right hunch before any of us caught on,” Sarah laughed.
“Be a good sport about it! Without her recipe, we might not be here.” Marlin chuckled happily. He was obviously quite taken with his daughters and their business acumen. “Maybe you’ll come up with your own variant later. It’s no’ written in stone that you can make only one type of gin.”
“I agree,” Collum said, looking at his watch. “And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got an appointment with Colleen at the Old School. She’s got a big event planned for September and we’re meeting some potential sponsors.”
“A big event?” Marlin frowned. He obviously hadn’t heard anything about it yet, which naturally bothered him.
“My lips are sealed but you’ll find out soon enough. Though I can tell you that it couldn’t hurt if you had some more gin in stock by then.” Collum rose and waved goodbye before leaving with a rather self-satisfied smile.
Sarah left a bit later, leaving behind Kieran and Marlin to talk to Shona a while longer about whisky tastings she could host with a selection from Gordon Gibbs.
It would make sense as she had been working with their products for several years.
Once they had come to an agreement, the two men left in good spirits and headed to the pub for lunch.
Shona stayed behind with her alpaca and her thoughts.
Was making gin truly the right decision?
Was it even her decision, or had all these well-meaning people more or less just pushed her into it?
She had to sit with this for a while longer.
And most importantly, she needed to talk it through with Isla.
Would they even be able to procure enough ingredients for a large-scale production of Alpaca Thistle?
If not, she could axe this project before it had even begun. Still, she did love a challenge …