Whisky on the Blockchain – EXPONENTIAL Growth Strategies for Scotland’s Economy
How Scottish whisky suppliers are improving the appeal and sales of their products through tapping into mega trends like NFTs.
A major accelerator for Scotland’s economy is the intersection of powerful new technologies with existing high-growth markets.
The intersection yields potential for exponential growth as there is a multiplier effect, of further boosting sales of already booming industries, as well as advancing the local technology capabilities in IT sectors that themselves also present hyper-growth opportunities.
A keynote example of this is ‘Whisky on the Blockchain’, how Scottish whisky suppliers are improving the appeal and sales of their products through tapping into mega trends like NFTs.
As the Scotch Whisky Association reports in 2021 the value of Scotch Whisky exports was up 19% to £4.51bn, and as Markets and Markets reports the global Blockchain Market was valued at $4.9 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $67. 4 billion by 2026.
Building Scotland’s innovation capacity in a market set to grow to over $60 billion, by growing one it’s largest export sectors, offers a concentrated, exponential strategy for economic growth.
The Whisky Barrel – Scottish Innovators Pioneer World’s First Single Cask Scotch with a Digital Provenance Certificate
Pioneers of this field include The Whisky Barrel, who have launched the world’s first single cask Scotch with a ‘Digital Provenance Certificate’.
The Whisky Barrel project demonstrates i) how they have integrated it into and enhanced their e-commerce strategy, and ii) the technology field is still so young that it’s possible to achieve world firsts, and thus significant competitive advantage and associated PR potential.
As Insider reported they have released one of the world’s first single-cask Scotch whiskies with a digital provenance certificate, using Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to digitally certify its whisky.
This securely transmits essential product information on a public ledger, helping collectors and connoisseurs alleviate the risk of investing in counterfeit whisky.
Each of the 152 individually-numbered bottles feature a unique QR code that links to its corresponding digital certificate. This token provides digital proof of ownership, as well as the provenance of each bottle. Each NFT is minted on the Solana blockchain platform, which was chosen for its carbon-neutral and low-energy consumption qualities.
The Whisky Barrel has pioneered this project with the support of CD Corp, who offer a range of marketing, branding & design, web development services as well as commanding experience in creating value-driven NFT projects.
Industry Innovators: Whisky and Digital Art
The intersection is headlined by initiatives from whisky suppliers to combine their product offerings with NFT digital art.
Other industry innovators include Glenrothes offering a micro (168 bottle) batch of 36-year-old Single Cask Scotch Whisky for $3,600 a bottle with an interactive NFT artwork, and Benriach launching a luxury twinset with two bottles exclusively as an NFT.
Johnnie Walker is offering seven whisky connoisseurs the chance to own an extremely rare bottle of 48-year-old Johnnie Walker Masters of Flavour NFTs, alongside their very own digital art – The tokens unlock access to a unique piece of graphic design by artist Kode Abdo aka BossLogic.
As Bernard Marr writes and explains in the featured videos distillers William Grant and Son have recently sold 15 bottles of 46-year-old Glenfiddich whisky for $18,000 apiece, each one accompanied by its own NFT revolving image/ artistic impression of the bottle that not only allows them to show off their purchase but also acts as a counterfeit-proof certificate of ownership.
