Bennachie Scotch whisky is planning to take the major players in the market head on to carve out its own niche. The company, under the new ownership of three private investors, now features three malts and two blends. The company has no distillery and the sources for the whiskies come from across the industry. The malts have been created to reflect consumer demand. The 10 year old is a light Speyside style which targets the sector dominated by Glenfiddich. It will retail at £21.55 (£19.95 on promotion), and the fuller flavoured 17 year old (£28.25 to £24.95 on promotion) has its sights set on brands such as the Macallan. Top of the range is a 21 year old selling at £33.85 (£29.95 on promotion). The three and eight year old blends go under the Formidable Jock name. The company and its distributor United Brands tested the products among 25,000 consumers at shows last year. This year it is spending £750,000 on trade and consumer advertising campaigns. UB's sales director Alistair Mutch said: "The big players are not responding to issues in the market and there is a need for niche products. "Malt is a growth market and consumers are interested in new brands that offer something different and they are trading up. "We are in the process of talking to off-trade buyers and we already have listings in Somerfield and in specialists and traditional wholesalers." Bennachie marketing director Bernard Bosher said this was a critical period for the company. "We must get some serious listings this year, then we can roll out the consumer campaign in the autumn. "So far the response has been very good, although we have suffered because the trade remembers the lack of commitment of the previous owners. But we are in this for the long term and we want to build partnerships. We are relatively small and we can react quickly." {{DRINKS }}