Want to Become the Elon Musk of Booze? Listen to These Entre…

Simon Coughlin, co-founder of Bruichladdich:

“Perhaps it’s easier today to start as there are literally thousands of distilleries open or in the process of being opened, the whole process is a much more common occurrence. On the other hand, it’s fast becoming a very crowded market. When we had the idea to revive the mothballed Bruichladdich distillery, it was almost impossible to raise funds, either from investors or bank loans. Only Scottish banks understood the complexity of financing whiskey stocks and their portfolios were full! Distilleries had been recently shut due to the rollercoaster ride of boom and bust in the industry, often associated with oil prices rises, so why would a bank wish to finance an opening? They were very skeptical.”