Diageo Global Travel has announced the opening of two Johnnie Walker House retail showcase stores in travel retail – one in Mumbai, India and another in Taipei, Taiwan.

Edrington and the Kyndal Group have announced a 50:50 joint venture to bottle, distribute and market Cutty Sark scotch whisky in India.

William Grant & Sons has appointed Kevin Abrook, currently global marketing manager innovation for whisky as its first ever global whisky specialist, innovation.

Leading academic Professor Dame Joan K Stringer DBE FRSE is the new independent chairperson of the Scotch Whisky Action Fund, set up last year by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) to tackle alcohol-related harm.

William Grant & Sons has unveiled a new Glenfiddich expression.

Beam Suntory has announced that it will begin distribution of the Suntory Japanese and scotch whiskies and Midori liqueur in the US and Germany beginning July 1.

Senior representatives of the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) are visiting Mexico next week (June 4-7) to promote the industry and to sign an agreement with the regulatory body for tequila.

Diageo has announced special cask strength bottlings of Lagavulin and Caol Ila for this year’s Islay Festival of Malt & Music.

Drambuie the scotch whisky liqueur is up for sale, according to the Financial Times newspaper.

The Philippines-based Alliance Global Group drinks group which owns the Emperador brand, has bought Whyte & Mackay US$726 million, including debt, according to unconfirmed reports.

Edrington has announced that the £250,000 investment in the visitor facilities at the Famous Grouse Experience at its Glenturret Distillery, Scotland’s most visited distillery, in Crieff, has been completed.

Diageo Global Travel and Middle East (GTME) has announced the launch of the John Walker & Sons Private Collection by Walker's master blender Jim Beveridge.

Berry Bros. & Rudd Spirits has appointed Marussia Beverages RUS to distribute The Glenrothes Speyside Single Malt scotch whisky, No. 3 London Dry gin, The King’s Ginger liqueur and Pink Pigeon Mauritian rum from June 1.

Edrington has announced the establishment of Edrington Americas, a wholly-owned sales, marketing and distribution company for the US.

Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky and premium gin division of Pernod Ricard, has announced it is expanding The Glenlivet Nàdurra brand.

Pernod Ricard’s net sales for the first nine months of the 2013/14 financial year totalled €6,186 million – down 7% on the same period last year. The company says the results are in line with the first half-year and sales were stable excluding foreign exchange and group structure effects.

Scotch whisky exports grew in 2013 according to figures published by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA).

The Diego Zamora group has appointed Matthew Turner as its global brand director for Licor 43.

Diageo has been named Distiller of the Year 2014 by Whisky Magazine.

The UK market for Scotch whisky declined by 3% last year.

Diageo Global Travel and Middle East (GTME) and the World Duty Free Group have opened an “exclusive concept store” in the departures concourse of London Heathrow Terminal 4, for Johnnie Walker Explorers’ Selection, a major global marketing initiative that GTME says represents one of Diageo’s most significant investments in travel retail.

Chivas Brothers has launched a major international bartender competition called Chivas Masters.

William Grant & Sons has announced at international memorial services in New York and Scotland and a special expression, for Charles Grant Gordon, the man who gave the world Glenfiddich Scotch whisky.

Diageo Reserve has announced that its ‘World Class’ mixology competition will be held in the UK from 28 July to 1 August.

Berry Bros. & Rudd Spirits announced the release of the second in its series of single cask bottlings of The Glenrothes from the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Pernod Ricard has reported net sales for the first semester of 2013/14 totalled €4.57 million.

Diageo, the world’s largest premium spirits company and the largest producer of Scotch whisky, has launched an initiative to locate lost and forgotten barrels of whisk(e)y from around the world.

William Grant & Sons has launched a scholarship to honour Ian Murray, its former prestige retail manager, who died last year after a short illness.

Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Diageo’s best selling blended Scotch whisky brand and Alfred Dunhill have joined forces to create the ‘Johnnie Walker Blue Label and Alfred Dunhill Travel Retail exclusive gift pack’.

Diageo has announced plans for a £30 million expansion of its Clynelish distillery in Sutherland.

It has just been announced that Charles Gordon, life president of William Grant & Sons, died in New York at the weekend. He was 86.

Diageo has announced that Georgie Bell, currently global ambassador for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, will join Diageo next month (January) as a global brand ambassador, focusing on the promotion of its new range of Mortlach single malt scotch which will be launched next year (2014).

Adnams, best known as an English regional brewer, is about to launch its first ever whiskies.

Ballantine’s Brasil is the name of a new lime-infused spirit drink, from the Chivas Brothers scotch and premium gin divisions of Pernod Ricard.

La Martinquaise, the French spirits group, has announced that WS Karoulias, one of the leading spirits distribution companies in Greece, will be the exclusive distributor of its Label 5 scotch whisky in Greece.

Islay’s independent farm distillery, Kilchoman, has built a new warehouse to hold more than 10,000 casks.

The Macallan and French crystal maker, Lalique, unveiled their latest special decanter in the Six Pillars Collection at the TFWA exhibition in Cannes today (October 22).

Diageo has announced a new marketing campaign for its scotch whisky blend, Johnnie Walker, that will amount to a £7.2 million spend.

Burn Stewart Distillers has relaunched the premium blended scotch whisky, Black Bottle.

Taghta (“Tuh-ta”, Gaelic for chosen), is name chosen by Glenmorangie’s whisky fans worldwide for a new single malt.

Glenfiddich’s Malt Mastermind competition is moving to Scotland – to Dufftown the home of the world’s number one single malt scotch whisky

A trial is being launched to deliver Scotch whisky by train from Speyside to central Scotland in a bid to cut road journeys and emissions.

The Scotch Whisky Association has responded to reports today (July 25) that there is major opposition from several European countries to Scotland’s yet to be enacted law a minimum price for a unit of alcohol.

Laurent Lacassagne has this week (W/C July 8) become chairman and CEO of Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard.