VOA常速英语:Scotland’s Booming Whisky Industry Fears Brexit Hangover(翻译)

Edradour has all the ingredients for the perfect whisky: water filtered through peaty highlands, plump grain from Scottish fields, and generations of know-how.

Distillery owner Andrew Symington enjoys nothing more than taking in the heady aromas in the warehouse that host six-and-a-half-thousand casks– and occasionally sampling the product.

“You’ve got like sugared almonds here, little bit of nutty maltiness.”

Symington watched the Brexit vote unfold with alarm. Sixty percent of his whisky goes to Europe.

“Europe currently is a network of 28 countries, all the tax warehouses are linked so it’s very ease of shipment and very little paperwork. If we’re not in that European club then of course things may change, they could impose tariffs on us.”

The vote to leave the EU has come a critical time. Symington is investing some 6.5 million dollars to expand the distillery and meet demand. Yet his feels over Brexit uncertainty are tempered by an unexpected boost in sales.

“Since then of course the pound has fallen 13 or 14 percent, so this is making a big impact too because our products are now much cheaper, and of course they’re more affordable in Europe.”

Whisky is one of Scotland’s biggest exports and Europe is one of its best customers. Losing access to the single market would be painful for the industry and for the Scottish economy.

Such concerns are driving renewed calls from Scotland’s first minister to break away from the rest of the United Kingdom.

“I for one am not interested in it, you know, she will only cause untold problems if she splits from England. I would like to see in the EU for sure, but I think if we’re not in the EU then we must be united as a United Kingdom.”

In centuries past, the ancient hills around Edradour have witnessed bloody battles over Scotland’s independence.

England’s armies are long gone but the matter is, perhaps, not yet settled. The fight over Scotland’s future is igniting once more.

Henry Ridgwell for VOANEWS Edradour in Scotland.