Will Scotch be on the rocks if Scotland votes for independence?


Scotch whisky is the third-largest contributor to Scotland's GDP, and some members of the industry are worried about what might happen to business if the country becomes independent.
Mike Younger, finance director for Macleod Distillers (makers of Glengoyne Single Malt), was one of just a handful of executives willing to speak to CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. He said that there is uncertainty about currency, interest rate levels, and membership in the European Union. "I'm nervous," he said, "because the results could be quite difficult for business."
He's also worried that if Scotland becomes independent, credit will be harder to come by, "simply because the full scale of the Scottish banking system at that point will be much smaller and less well defined and less capable than the much richer system that we have across the U.K. in its entirety."
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Last year, Scotland exported $6.5 billion worth of Scotch, which accounted for 20 percent of the country's exports. Whatever happens with the vote, Scotch is here to say, says David Williamson, spokesman for the Scotch Whisky Association: "We've survived wars, revolutions, economic bubbles, and other things, so we'll still be here, that's the certainty of this debate. But we need to work with the government in the future to make sure it continues to grow."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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