Vodka makes inroads in world's biggest Scotch market

By Nick Antonovics

PARIS (Reuters) - The music is pumping and the lights are low, but something strange is happening in the bar of R, a trendy rooftop club in Paris: in the world's biggest Scotch whisky market the young drinkers are turning to vodka.

While national statistics show Scotch is still France's favorite tipple after wine and beer, vodka consumption is booming, and the industry's giants are muscling in.

"Overall it's 50/50 (whisky/vodka) but with young people it's much more vodka," said Guillaume, 23, the barman at R. Female drinkers, especially, prefer white spirits, he said.

Whisky sales still dwarf those of vodka by 10 to 1 in France. Nearly 140 million liters of Scotch was sold in 2006, according to France's drinks industry federation. But in terms of value, vodka sales grew 16 percent, three times faster than Scotch and the fastest rate of growth of any spirits category.

According to market research group ACNielsen, the French vodka market is now worth more than 121 million euros.

"It's certain that we sell more vodka than whisky," said Guillaume Le Blan, a barman at Alcazar, a restaurant and bar in the heart of Paris's bustling St Germain district. "I would say its 30/70 (whisky/vodka)."

WHISKY MAKERS NOT WORRIED

The Scotch Whisky Association is not worried, yet. Spokesman David Williamson said the French market continued to be strong, growing nearly 10 percent in 2006 to 170 million bottles, meaning it remained the biggest market by volume in the world.