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A little while back I wrote a tongue-in-cheek post about the curious effects of globalization on the market for scotch. The increased wealth and subsequent demand for luxury goods in East Asia, it seemed, was causing the price of scotch in North America to rise and the selection to fall.

There were several reasons for this, including: the sheer size and rapid growth of the market for luxury goods in Asia, higher margins for scotch producers & distributors, and - as was my guess - less competition from similar liquors that could act as substitutes for scotch (like whisky, bourbon, rye, etc.).

Sure enough, I arrived at the Singapore Changi international airport yesterday and a quick scan of the duty free shop* supports the theory: the liquor section is dominated primarily by a lot (a lot!) of high-end scotches, as well as cognac, wine and some champagne. There is far less competition from your usual suspects of rums, ryes, vodkas, gins, and the like.

This is a place, in other words, that has its priorities straight.


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*I recognize that a duty free shop in an airport is not accurate guage of what a regular liquor store will carry. But that is sort of the point: it caters to the wealthier crowd that can afford to travel or do business in and around the region. I suspect, however, that the inventory in duty free stores is dictated by a wider variety of considerations than simply consumer demand, so it will be worth finding a liquor store in a wealthy part of town to do a comparison.