Beam Suntory has named Robbie Millar as the new managing director of its Scotch & Irish Brand House, overseeing a brand portfolio that includes Laphroaig, Bowmore, Auchentoshan and Kilbeggan.
He has experience from a 20-year career in the spirits and beer industry, joining from Carlsberg, where he served as vice president for global marketing.
Prior to Carlsberg, Millar served as global director for category development for SAB Miller, senior partner and managing director for Kantar Consulting, and managing director for Compass Box Whisky.
Jessica Spence, president of brands at Beam Suntory, said: “Robbie is an exceptional, commercially astute leader who will steer, alongside a superb team, our Scotch and Irish Brand House into an ever-stronger position.”
Millar commented: “I am a custodian of iconic Scotch and Irish whiskies and have a duty to build these brands for the benefit of all our people, consumers, customers and the local communities in which we operate.
“Underpinning all our work - fuelling our continued success - will be a deep belief in craft, quality and sustainability.”
Millar’s appointment strengthens the company’s Brand House leadership, which includes end-to-end management.
Earlier this month, Beam Suntory announced the appointment of company veteran Carlo Coppola to managing director of the James B. Beam Distilling Co. Brand House.
Millar, a native of Scotland, will be relocating back to the UK for the role.
Reporting to Spence, he will spend the majority of his time directly in Scotland to be close to Beam Suntory’s brand heritage and build relationships with the wider whisky community and trade.
Beam Suntory was created in 2014 by combining Jim Beam bourbon and Japanese whisky group Suntory to form a new company headquartered in Chicago, as a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Japan.
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