Valt vows to silence doubters with dedicated distillery

Valt Vodka has garnered sales around the world since an initial batch was distilled on St Andrew’s Day, 2006, but until last week it was made in Speyside in a whisky distillery. With its own still now up and running near Dumbarton, co-owner Ricky Christie says the company can quadruple production to 10,000 cases a year.

Christie said Valt has a following in the “ultra-premium” vodka market, and the only thing holding back sales growth was the fact that distributors in some markets such as Russia and the Ukraine were not convinced the Scottish company could meet demand if they started promoting the drink.

Valt hopes that having its own distillery with a definite output capacity will help counter those doubts.

“Our revenue should reach seven figures now we are confident we can go into discussions with bigger figures in the industry,” said Christie, whose family own the Speyside Distillery. Valt has a turnover of about £250,000.

The brand was set up by Christie, and with co-owners Oliver Storrie and Donald Buchanan the business has received about £300,000 in investment.

The firm originally made the spirit by an unusual process of quintuple distillation. But although its backers were happy with the flavour, the end result was expensive and relatively slow, so the company had its own bespoke copper pot still made by specialist Arnold Holstein. It is called Donald’s Troosers and is said to be the only one of its kind in Scotland.

Christie, who after a long career in the drinks industry now tastes only by “nosing” a spirit, says the resulting vodka is slightly different to that made on Speyside.

Unlike Scotch, vodka does not need to be matured before it is ready to drink, so Valt from the new still will soon be on the shelves of bars and shops around the world. “We bottled our first batch [from the new still] on Burns’ birthday and that was by accident not design, so we feel that fate is on our side,” says Christie.

Valt has proved popular in Germany, Singapore, Spain and Thailand. Last year the company pulled off a coup by breaking into vodka’s Eastern European homeland with a deal to sell Valt in the Ukraine. With the help of Business Gateway Renfrewshire, the firm is aiming to begin selling in America this year.