Whiskey is a long term game.
It can take 200 years to get from acorn, to oak, to cask, to spirit, to whiskey.
We visited The Macallan Distillery in Northern Scotland today, and what struck me most is the long term thinking required to run a whiskey business.
The spirit they distil today will be put into casks to mature for at least the next 12 years. Their best whiskeys will be left to mature for 72 years. And the casks used for maturation are made from oak trees that are at least 100 years old before being felled.
There are no shortcuts, no quick hacks, and no quarterly short term profiteering.
It’s a pure, calculated long game.
When leading a company like Macallan, you reap the good and bad decisions of the people that came before you. You also know the product you make today will likely be consumed by people well after you’re gone.
I can’t help but be inspired by this type of long term thinking. What if we applied it to business, government, and environmental decision making?
Maybe we can learn something from, or over, a few whiskies.