I guess the spirits industry has been a global business for a long time. Spirits are one of the world's oldest traded commodities. In fact, most government revenue prior to the discovery of things like income tax and other forms of taxation was in fact in the form of customs duties on spirits moving across borders. There's a long history of trade in spirits internationally. A strong wine trade has existed for a long time in Europe, essentially between England and France. The traditions in spirits are quite different. Our products don't go bad. They can sustain great travel, as many of you will know on both sides of the table.
On December 10th, 2013. See this statement in context.