Buying less but better, and why whisky’s no longer an ‘old man’s drink’

LVMH Moët Hennessy spirits boss is spruiking its newest campaign star Harrison Ford, working with Beyonce and generational shifts in drinking.

LVMH president of spirits Jonas Tahlin at the launch of the Glenmorangie campaign in Sydney last week.

Jonas Tahlin, president of spirits brands LVMH Moët Hennessy, is thinking about the adage of buying less, but better.

Then again, the brands in the energetic Swede’s portfolio – which include Glenmorangie, Belvedere Vodka and Ardbeg single malt whiskies – tend to be the sort of tipple you enjoy moderately.

It fits with how some people are drinking now.

“I do think that there are some trends in terms of people’s habits – health and wellness, drinking and moderation and all of those things, which I think is probably going to be affecting the wine and spirits industry a little bit,” he says, adding that these habits are good things.

“In a world where people are maybe drinking less, but better, I think we’re actually very well placed to do well within that context.

“So it’s true that the consumption of wine and spirits is being tempered, currently. Some of it is economical, some of it more structural, but I think we’re very well placed to deal with those structural changes as people are looking for quality rather than quantity.”

Tahlin was in Sydney last week for the global launch of a Glenmorangie campaign starring – improbably and yet perfectly – Harrison Ford as a slightly gruffer version of the 82-year-old actor.

The Australian creative team behind the campaign included actor Joel Edgerton, who directed the series of accompanying videos.

As evidenced in some behind-the-scenes footage shown at the launch event, Edgerton has an easy rapport with Harrison.

Tahlin, in this business for more than 20 years, says this tempering – of spend and consumption – is not cause for alarm.

He believes the slowdown in luxury and specifically in high-end drinks – with China a particular pinch point for some drinks in the portfolio – is more of a normalisation after the extreme growth of the Covid era.

“It has been, and it is challenging, but if you compare it to before Covid … it’s not quite as dramatic. So I think we need to keep that in mind a little bit,” he says.

“I do think, however, that there are some trends which are maybe less cyclical. I think what we’re seeing now is people have less money to spend on luxury because of inflation, because of interest rates.

“I think that’s cyclical. That’s disappearing. And I think even 2025 looks to be a stronger year globally.”

The sober curious movement – a move toward mindful relationship with alcohol and low- and no-alcohol choices – is something Tahlin sees as a good thing, and also not something to affect the brands he oversees.

In 2024 LVMH took a minority stake in French alcohol-free sparkling wine brand French Bloom.

Harrison Ford in the campaign for Glenmorangie.

The wine and spirits division of LVMH has made changes in its structure in recent months.

Jean-Jacques Guiony was appointed president and chief executive, and Alexandre Arnault, one of LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault’s sons, as deputy chief executive, effective February 1.

In a Q4 earnings call in January Bernard Arnault expressed confidence the business – which experienced an 8 per cent decline in the fourth quarter – would rally.

“I’m sure they’ll get the business back on track for growth. Let’s give them two years to show what they can do, but I’m pretty confident,” he said.

When it comes to spending big on a luxury good – even a mostly ephemeral one such as a rather nice bottle of whisky – Tahlin thinks the luxury consumer is more discerning than ever.

“You cannot fool people forever. Therefore selling something which is not very complicated to make at a really, really high price can work for a while, but not forever,” he says.

“There’s real integrity in the making of whisky, which means that it may not be the cheapest thing, but it could be really good value. And I think that’s why it has longevity.”

Still, of whisky, Tahlin – who drinks his neat – agrees it needed an image makeover.

Including that it is, well, as he puts it “an old man’s drink”.

Anyway, there’s old men and there’s old men. Harrison Ford is unequivocally an old man, except not really. His timeless appeal shows that age is a mindset anyway. He is, as Tahlin notes, a “legend”.

But when it comes to shifting perception – that women drink whisky (in growing numbers) and so do younger people – Tahlin says the celebrity factor helps here. Especially, it must be said, when it’s major.

Daniel Craig, in his post-Bond rebrand for Belvedere springs to mind.

In 2024 Moët Hennessy announced its plans to enter a co-venture with superstar Beyonce Knowles-Carter – whose great-grandfather was a whisky moonshiner – on a whisky brand, SirDavis.

“Working with Beyonce, I think that can be a true catalyst for making [perception shift] happen at some pace and making it happen globally,” says Tahlin.

“That’s part of the reason why we are here working with Harrison Ford. We need to inject a little bit more fun and energy and culture and excitement into single malt whisky. Because frankly, sometimes we just take ourselves way too seriously.”

As for other shifts Tahlin predicts in the future: he thinks there’s probably enough celebrity tequila brands, that whisky will grow in popularity, in part because he doesn’t think other drinks have the same kind of geographical spread (from Tasmania to Japan and, of course, Scotland); that cocktail culture will properly take off and so too the pre-made kind.

For Tahlin, part of the satisfaction of his job is working for Bernard Arnault.

“Our owner, Mr Arnault … I think he has an obsession with creativity. He believes rightly so, that creativity and obsession with quality is what drives performance,” he says.

“And I think when you have a job where you’re being asked to inject as much creativity and quality as you can into what you’re working with, that’s just a blessing.”