All liquor comes at a premium cost.
Since this is more of a want than a need, you can expect the cost to be a bit higher.
However, some things cost more than others, and one of those is Scotch whiskey.
Scotch is an expensive drink of choice and there are several good reasons behind this.
The fact that Scotch may cost more money than Bourbon or Canadian whiskey is quite commonly known.
Let’s take a look at why Scotch is so expensive and what you can do about it the next time you want to purchase some.
1. Importing
Scotch is not made in the United States.
Although the United States is the largest importer of Scotch, the product is still not being produced in the US.
There are several reasons behind this that we will get into, but most importantly, you will have to remember that this is not a product that is made in the US.
All of the Scotch that the US imports is coming from Scotland.
If you think in terms of dollar amounts, the US imports billions of dollars of Scotch every year.
Importing this product ends up costing quite a bit of money.
Not only are there shipping charges involved, but you must also pay for the taxes, tariffs, and fees when a product comes into the United States.
Companies that sell Scotch in the US need to import it from overseas.
Once it comes into the port, there are fees that need to be paid on any foreign goods.
By the time the fees are paid on an already premium-priced product, the pricing gets even higher.
Overall, importing Scotch is a very large business, and it is a costly one at that.
The fact that this product can’t be purchased on US soil without importing it leads to a very high cost for the Scotch that you purchase.
In addition, it’s important to consider the time it takes for the Scotch to come from Scotland to the US.
All of these extra costs of time and money lead to a much higher overall price for Scotch.
Keep this in mind the next time you set out to buy a bottle of Scotch.
2. Barley
Alcohol is made with different types of grain.
The most popular of those grains is corn.
Corn is cheap to grow, and it is very easily made into alcohol.
However, a single malt Scotch is made with barley.
Barley is a more expensive product to grow and work with, and it also requires a longer and more detailed process when it comes to making the Scotch.
With an outstanding single malt Scotch, there is going to be no corn in the mixture at all, and it will be pure barley alcohol.
In addition to the fact that barley is the grain used to make Scotch, there is also a lot of barley required to make the product.
To make a liter of single malt Scotch, the amount of barley required is hard to believe.
There are several different types of barley that can grow, and of course, each of these is going to affect the taste of the Scotch that you drink.
Those who make Scotch are very particular about the type of barley that they use.
Some of the barley that is grown has more starch than others.
A two-row grain is going to have a much higher starch content, and that is important when you are trying to make a Scotch.
The next time you think that Scotch is expensive, you must consider that the process goes all the way back to the specific type of barley seeds being planted for production.
3. Slower Aging Process
For those who are looking for an excellent Scotch drink, they must wait quite some time.
In Scotland, there is a law that says that the Scotch must mature in a barrel for three years.
Under the law in Scotland, it is not acceptable to sell Scotch before it has aged for those three years.
Of course, this slows down the process a bit and makes it take a while for a Scotch to make it to the market.
Those who decide they want to get into the Scotch business have quite a bit of time to spend working on the product before they can sell any.
In addition to the three years being the minimum, most are not going to try and stop the aging process at that point.
Most of the best Scotch is aged for ten or more years.
These are what people have come to know as being the better flavor options, and therefore, they will sell better in the stores.
Some cheaper Scotch may be aged for just a few years, but those who can taste the differences between Scotches will tell you that it is very noticeable.
The slower aging process is something that you will come to appreciate, but it is also going to make the product much more expensive.
As you will see when we start talking a bit more about the process that Scotch goes through to get to your table, the aging process is slow and a big part of why Scotch costs so much.
4. High Demand
As always, people want things that are hard to get.
The Scotch is one of the harder liquors to obtain, and sometimes, when you go to a bar, they may not even have a Scotch option for you to choose from.
Although most liquor stores will have a selection, Scotch is a strong drink, and some bars won’t even carry it because of the strength and the costs associated with the product.
The demand for Scotch, is very high, however.
As we mentioned, there are billions of dollars’ worth of Scotch sent to the United States every year, and this shows how many Americans enjoy their Scotch products.
To keep up with this demand, Scotland has to work quite hard to push out enough inventory year after year.
Although there are many high-end Scotch distributors in Scotland, this is still a lot for them to keep up with.
Fluctuation in crop size, the aging process, shipping, and importation all lead to the higher costs associated with Scotch.
However, even with these high costs, the demand remains very high.
When the demand for a product is high but the supply is low, you are going to see an increase in the price.
Distributors and sellers of Scotch have to increase the price of the product to ensure that they don’t run out of it.
This is looked at almost as if those who are willing to pay will figure out a way to pay for it.
For the most part, the true fans of Scotch will tell you that it is expensive, but it does not stop them from purchasing the drink.
5. Luxury Product
Certain types of alcoholic beverages have a look or feel associated with them.
Let’s take, for example, a martini or a pina colada.
These are considered to be more of a vacation drink and are often enjoyed by women drinkers.
Although anyone can drink any alcohol, typically, the fruity and lighter drinks tend to be options that women enjoy.
If you look at something like a Budweiser, people of all ages and genders will enjoy this when watching football or playing a round of golf.
Beer is often associated with the sports world or drinking outside at a BBQ.
Typically, beer is light and lighter in alcohol, and this means that it makes its way into sports quite often.
In addition, if you think about wine, this is typically something paired with a great meal.
These are all ways that the majority of people use or look at different types of alcohol.
Each person is going to have their own comfort levels and preferences when it comes to the type and amount of alcohol they assume.
However, have you ever wondered who drinks Scotch?
There are millions of people who enjoy Scotch, but one of the things to remember about this product is that it has a high-end or luxury feel attached to it.
The luxury of the Scotch means that you will see this in high-end restaurants or bars.
The pricing of these places is already relatively high, and it only leads to higher pricing on the Scotch.
The overall concept of a Scotch product is that it is a luxury.
If you are interested in a luxury drink that is considered to be both premium and sophisticated, then Scotch is the choice to consider.
In addition, there are several different types of Scotch, with each having its own flavor profile and appeal.
The single malt Scotch seems to be the most highly sought after and often the most expensive of the types of Scotch on the market.
6. Taxes
There are always taxes during the importation of a product, but the taxes don’t stop there.
Once products have made it to the United States, there is still more taxing that gets done.
When you purchase alcohol, you are going to be subject to a state tax that will need to be paid on each purchase.
Depending on where you live, the alcohol tax will fluctuate.
One thing to keep in mind is that, if you live in an area where there are high alcohol taxes, you will pay quite a bit more for the Scotch than in other areas.
This, of course, has nothing to do with the quality of the product, but instead, it is all related to the taxes and costs associated with obtaining the product.
Alcohol tends to have higher tax rates than other products because it is not a required item for daily life.
In fact, some will say that if the alcohol is not being consumed in moderation, it is actually quite bad for you.
Therefore, it is essential to remember that the taxes put into play on alcohol can sometimes be used to keep you from getting too carried away with drinking Scotch.
Regardless of how you look at it or your personal beliefs and thoughts about Scotch, the taxes that you pay to purchase this product are going to impact the total price.
It’s hard to accept that you are paying for other things aside from just the product you are purchasing, but this is the way that commerce works in the United States.
7. Fluctuating Pricing Due To Marketing
Did you know that the pricing of Scotch can fluctuate due to marketing?
There are a few reasons behind this, but the first is that, when people are marketed to properly, they will pay more for a product.
If a Scotch company is able to put together a very strong marketing campaign, more people will look to buy their product.
Consumers are very much impacted by the advertisem*nts they see.
Through the years, the advertisem*nts for Scotch have gotten more involved, and they are better at grabbing a wider audience of Scotch drinkers.
Therefore, the demand has gone up, and so has the pricing on the Scotch.
The interesting thing about this is that the pricing also goes up because the marketing costs are higher.
To market Scotch properly, companies have to choose the right marketing and advertising firms and then decide on the avenues through which they would like to market their Scotch.
For some, this will be on the internet, and for others, it will be through television.
Regardless of how it is done, it is essential to get the name of your company out there in front of all to see.
The costs of this marketing need to be covered in the final price that a bottle of Scotch is sold for.
Remember when you buy Scotch, you are buying a little barley, some taxes, some importation costs, and even some marketing.
The price the end user pays for Scotch needs to be enough to keep all those things along the way profitable.
To do this, the overall set price on a bottle of Scotch gets relatively high.
8. Barrels
Scotch is stored in barrels where it ages.
These barrels need to be obtained by the manufacturer, and they have to be a specific type of oak barrels.
There are some issues with the barrels and pricing, and they will play into the overall expensive costs of the Scotch that you drink.
Let’s first look at the fact that you will need a large number of barrels to produce the proper amount of Scotch to help fill the demand for the Scotch business in the United States.
These barrels need to be obtained and stored for many years.
This means that, as you are trying to make more Scotch, you are also going to need to purchase new barrels.
Many companies are going to be able to save the barrels and use them again on the next round of Scotch, but this is still not that much of savings when you consider the length of this entire process.
Those who make great Scotch are very particular about the types of barrels they use and how they are stored.
Some Scotch products go through a second finishing process where they are moved from one type of barrel to another to help improve the taste in the Scotch.
Those who produce Scotch are used to the process with the barrels and the extra steps that this involves in the process.
However, there is no question that this alcohol is a bit harder to make and therefore costs more money.
9. Storage
We mentioned that barrels are going to add to the overall costs of the Scotch-making process, but another major factor is storage.
Think about the amount of space it takes to store Scotch for years and years while you are waiting to be able to sell it.
These people who produce Scotch need to ensure that the temperature of the space that they are keeping the Scotch remains within an acceptable range.
Keeping the temperature-controlled in such a large facility is expensive.
Now think about doing that for ten or twenty years for millions of barrels.
As you can see, this is a big undertaking for a company, and this is all before they have sold even a single gallon of Scotch.
Therefore, there is a significant risk involved in becoming a Scotch producer, and it is certainly enough to keep most people out of the business.
If you are someone who is looking to fully understand why Scotch is so expensive, it pays to watch a video on the Scotch-making process.
This will give you a better understanding and help you see that there is quite a bit of work that goes into all of this.
Sometimes understanding that work can help justify the pricing that is paid.
Once the Scotch is done aging, it needs to be bottled and then stored until it is time for it to be sold.
Again, this just increases the amount of time spent on Scotch and getting the product into the consumer’s hands.
10. Evaporation Of Product
Last but certainly not least on the list of why Scotch is so expensive is the fact that, when it is put into barrels, some of it is going to evaporate.
Remember that, when Scotch is first made, it requires quite a bit of barley.
After that, it has to be stored in barrels and kept at the proper temperature for many years.
However, even after following this process perfectly, manufactures of Scotch still need to consider the fact that they are going to lose some of their product.
As the Scotch sits for many years, the product will evaporate.
When you are trying to make as much of a product as possible, it can be very discouraging when, all of a sudden, there is considerably less in the barrel when it comes time to sell.
The pricing is also going to have to increase because of the costs of goods.
All of the costs, labor, and time that go into the Scotch-making process must be recovered in the end.
This is why the pricing continues to increase.
The costs of all things are getting higher, and they are going to impact what you pay for your Scotch.
It’s hard to say with any certainty if Scotch will always remain expensive, but it does not appear that the pricing is going to decrease any time soon.
With more and more people enjoying the taste of Scotch, the demand is going to continue to increase.
Hopefully, you can now see why the pricing of Scotch is so high.
The numbers you see in the store are not elevated without reason.
Those who love Scotch will tell you that the high pricing is entirely worth it for them.
NEXT:Why Is Tide So Expensive (Top 10 Reasons)
