Demand for more variety in Scotch whisky from fast-growing emerging markets and the request for lower-alcohol varieties among health-conscious drinkers are challenging a closely guarded centuries-old tradition. Drinks giant Diageo, producers of market leader Johnnie Walker, sent shock waves through the industry earlier this year when a "highly confidential" document, leaked to the Wall Street Journal, revealed potential innovations such as flavoured infusions, low-alcohol variants and whisky finished in tequila casks. But it is operating within very tight restrictions as British law states Scotch must be at least 40% alcohol — which means distillers cannot reach out to health-conscious millennials or tap into the lucrative Middle Eastern market with lower- or zero-alcohol Scotch. "There is a lot of interest in lower-alcohol spirit drinks across the spirit sector to do with things like the Dry January craze and minimum pricing of alcohol," said Matthew Pauley, an assistant professor ...
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