A very Grand Cru, a very big elephant in the room, and a very sweet Peranakan Love Story |
SINGAPORE. An emphatic statement that fine single malt Scotch whisky, born from the land, crafted by man, aged with patience, and packaged in style, deserves a prime place at the luxury table.
That’s The Moodie Davitt Report’s take on William Grant & Sons’ blockbuster launch of Glenfiddich Grand Cru 23 year old with DFS at Singapore Changi Airport on Thursday (read our initial on-site report here).
Here we present a round-up of our exclusive coverage, including the latest professional protographs plus videos, podcast and social media, of one of the most compelling brand innovations of recent times in the spirits category.
As reported, William Grant & Sons is offering two variants in the range exclusively to global travel retail: a 75cl 43% ABV edition available solely through DFS Group, and a 70cl 43% ABV through other travel retailers from 1 October.
“It’s a positive delight to be in Changi Airport Terminal 3 with our first Glenfiddich pop-up store,” William Grant & Sons Global Travel Retail Managing Director Ed Cottrell told guests at the launch (you can watch Cottrell interviewed by Martin Moodie in a two-part film below).
“Glenfiddich Grand Cru 23 year old is a really new start for us – something exciting that we’re doing for a whisky brand that’s been around since 1887. It is genuinely exciting, new and innovative.
This is an emphatic statement that fine single malt Scotch whisky, born from the land, crafted by man, aged with patience, and packaged in style, deserves a prime place at the luxury table
“Normally you would think that a whisky store would involve wood – there’s none here. It’s all about different colours…about gold, about black. And it’s all about celebration. And the reason it’s about celebration is that we’re getting people to enjoy this whisky at different moments – at moments of celebration.
“What helps us do that is that after the 23 years of Glenfiddich maturing in its casks, we finish it in French cuvée casks from a famous region in Northern France that makes sparkling wine. These casks give a unique expression to this whisky, which makes it light, aromatic and quite viscous – a very accessible aged malt but one that has a real depth of flavour.
“For us, it’s also about moving Glenfiddich into more of a luxury space. Luxury is not a word you would often use with whisky. It’s a word you would use with perfume and cosmetics or with handbags but with whisky it’s relatively new.”
Highlighting the key points of the launch, Cottrell said, “This is a really old brand. We’re not changing it. We’re evolving it into something really expressive and really new.
“And we’re doing it here in Changi for a reason. This is a world first. It’s not just about the airport, which is our highest-selling airport for William Grant & Sons products in the world. It’s also got a different bottle and a different ABV strength for this airport. So it’s a genuine exclusive and a genuine worldfirst.”
DFS Group General Manager Singapore Prashant Mahboobani told guests: “We are extremely privileged to partner with the world’s most-awarded single malt Scotch whisky brand Glenfiddich to bring a really memorable experience to all our passengers at Changi Airport. At DFS we continually strive to bring some truly remarkable experiences and we’re very grateful to launch a travel retail exclusive Glenfiddich Grand Cru 23 year old.”
Changi Airport Group Senior Vice President of Airside Concessions Teo Chew Hoon said: “Changi Airport Group is thrilled to partner Glenfiddich and DFS in this global launch of the Grand Cru whisky. This elegant outpost combines the rich flavour of whisky with enhanced technology to give passengers an experience like no other right here at Changi Airport.”
Glenfiddich Global Brand Ambassador Struan Grant Ralph said, “Whisky is an exciting category and we’re really proud to lead that category in innovation. Grand Cru is a great reflection of that. It represents a new world of experimentation with Brian [Kinsman – Glenfiddich Malt Master] and his team, using cuvée wine casks. It’s our mission to make whisky more accessible but also to push the boundaries of the category.”
Glenfiddich Malt Master Brian Kinsmann (also listen to his podcast with Martin Moodie below), commented: “This is a project that’s been two years in the making in terms of experimenting specifically. But it is built upon two decades worth of experiments where we’ve tried not only wine casks but also other sources of oak from all around the world. We’ve really started to learn what works well with Glenfiddich and with our specific distillery’s character and how it will ultimately augment the core flavour of the whisky.
THE HERO – GLENFIDDICH GRAND CRU 23 YEAR OLD
[A grand statement: The sleek black glass bottle features gold Grand Cru print and a golden closure. It is presented in an opulent black box featuring a sparking golden firework design, designed to “emanate the spirit of celebration and the true taste of luxury contained within”.]
THE POP-UP BOUTIQUE
CHANGI 1ST – THE LAUNCH CELEBRATIONS
THE INTERVIEWS
[Glenfiddich Malt Master Brian Kinsman (pictured below) tells Martin Moodie about the inspiration, the creative journey and the ultimate reality of Glenfiddich Grand Cru]
[Above and below: William Grant & Sons Global Travel Retail Managing Director Ed Cottrell tells Martin Moodie about what Grand Gru represents for the Glenfiddich brand]
THE EVENING CELEBRATIONS
ELSEWHERE AT CHANGI: TERMINAL 4 MINI-PROMOTION
SOCIAL MEDIA
Throughout Thurday’s launch and evening celebrations, The Moodie Davitt Report was providing not just real-time B2B reports but also extensive social media coverage. In Singapore, Martin Moodie focused on Instagram, while back in London, Social Media Editor Hannah-Tan Gillies curated a series of stunning images into a compelling social media narrative using the campaign hashtags #celebratetheoccasion #glenfiddich and #glenfiddichgrandcru
#Glenfiddich #CelebrateTheOccasion #GlenfiddichGrandCru
Diary of a launch report Live (and prompt follow-up) coverage of an ambitious launch such as Glenfiddich Grand Cru is an exciting but complex task, writes Martin Moodie, and not for the faint-hearted Besides just about requiring a PHD in multi-tasking (reporting, interviewing, podcasting, posting on social media and filming), it also involves the cooperation of numerous people. In this case, the brilliant William Grant & Sons team back in London and on site helped immeasurably in making things happen, arranging airside passes, interview timings, PR collateral, professional photos and much more. The Changi Airport Group management are always accessible and what more can one say about the DFS team, where for people like Regional Merchandising Manager Patricia Sim Meng Chai nothing is too much trouble? A dead digital recorder (see my Blog)? Crisis what crisis? A quick escorted dash to the nearby Sprint-Cass technology store and a replacement procured. But with the original recorder now comatose, what of that precious interview conducted earlier with Glenfiddich Malt Master Brian Kinsman? No problem, says Brian, let’s do it again. And you know what? Like a great Glenfiddich single malt, the interview had aged well and the second take was even better.  Back at the Moodie Davitt offices in London and Galway, many hands were also making light (or at least lighter) work for me onsite. Dermot Davitt, already under huge pressure on our September print edition press day, took extensive time out to post pictures on our website that I was emailing him from Changi. Fashion, Beauty & Social Media Editor Hannah-Tan Gillies augmented and improved my social media posts with her trademark brilliance (below).
It’s a far cry from the old days of reporting on a brand launch using notebook and pen and publishing for a magazine a few weeks later. But for a B2B title at least, it’s not just about social media. In fact, that is not where your main readership is viewing the story. The trick is to capture the immediacy of the event via such platforms while not losing sight of the wider importance of the narrative for subsequent in-depth reporting, and reacting to what’s happening in front of your eyes. At the end of the day, it is all about telling a story. And they don’t come much more interesting than Glenfiddich Grand Cru 23 year old. |
