Diageo clearly believes that getting Beckham on board makes Haig Club a sure-fire international success. Aside from the brand, it will give the single grain Scotch whisky category a much-needed boost. Other companies have tried a grain in the past – Invergordon pre-its Whyte & Mackay ownership days for starters, and William Grant is introducing a 25 Year Old grain – which is clearly poles apart from Haig Club’s positioning.

But as the shortage of single malt continues to concern the Scotch whisky industry, it’s quite useful that some companies can fall back on grain whisky. We should remember that it was back in 1824 that John Haig established the Cameronbridge Distillery where he pioneered the art of producing the spirit in the continuous Coffey and Stein stills, which led to the birth of the blends Haig and Dimple.  

It was an invention, though, which laid the foundations for the growth and success of the modern Scotch whisky industry, for it can be produced in enormous quantities. Today at Cameronbridge some 120 million litres of alcohol are produced a year and, hopefully, with Haig Club (or is it David Beckham?)  at the helm it will continue in its ground-breaking traditions, but this time in a blue bottle rather than the brown. At this point I am arguing myself around to their proposition. So let’s not be vague – let’s continue with Haig and see if they can be as revolutionary as days of yore.