A Season for Festive Spirits

With Chinese New Year falling quite early in 2020, we are in the midst of a truly festive two-month period that will see the Christmas and New Year holiday season immediately segue into the Lunar New Year festivities!

Spirits giant William Grant & Sons has seized the opportunity to promote the excellent single malt Scotch whiskies in their catalogue, including some special festive packaging that really wowed us.

Top-tier single malt The Balvenie recently introduced James Cordiner, their new Brand Ambassador for Southeast Asia, at a special tasting and pairing session held at Skillet @ 163 at Fraser Place in Kuala Lumpur. Born and raised in Speyside, and boasting a number of whisky-focussed credentials, James was in his element right away, introducing and explaining the craftsmanship that goes into every expression of The Balvenie.

The Balvenie is well-regarded by whisky aficionados as a premium single malt, and one of the few distilleries left to fully control virtually all aspects of their whisky-making, from growing and floor-malting by hand a proportion of their own barley to running their own onsite cooperage to craft the barrels so important to the ageing of fine whisky. The meticulous process by which The Balvenie is made ensures that it remains a firm favourite of Speyside single malt connoisseurs, and a lovely whisky to enjoy with food, too. On hand at the tasting were the 12-year-old DoubleWood, the 14-year-old Caribbean Cask, the 17-year-old DoubleWood, and the luxurious 21-year-old PortWood. Each expression was carefully paired with a special cheese crafted by local artisan Annisa Iwan, founder of Milky Whey Cheese. The Balvenie 12 was complemented nicely by a Smoked Melaka cheese, while the sweet notes of the rum cask-finished Balvenie 14 worked well with the RIK 12-month aged cheese. The expressive 17-year-old DoubleWood was paired with a Jade Blue cheese, and finally, The Balvenie 21 was coupled with a lovely Triple Cream Alba Brie.

It was a great way to welcome James to Malaysia, one of the key markets in the region that he looks after, and always a treat to enjoy the range of well-made Balvenie single malts. We were also especially pleased to welcome The Balvenie to the recent WhiskyPLUS Penang event, where the brand was particularly well-received as one of the over 70 brands showcased at the event.

FESTIVE PACKAGING FOR CNY 2020

If the William Grant & Sons portfolio counts The Balvenie as its most upmarket single malt, surely Glenfiddich is its most prolific. Both the world’s top-selling and most-awarded single malt Scotch whisky, Glenfiddich recently unveiled its stunning festive season gift packs for its 12-, 15-, and 18-year-old expressions at a lavish paired dinner at Beta KL, hosted by Glenfiddich’s newest Regional Brand Ambassador for Southeast Asia, Brett Bayley, with a wonderful menu curated by head chef Raymond Tham.

The core range of single malts boasts these limited edition festive packs just in time for Chinese New Year 2020, with the iconic Glenfiddich royal stag logo reimagined in breathtaking colour, depth, and detail by Shenzhen-based artist Rion Wang.

The royal stag appears as the well-known logo on every bottle of Glenfiddich – naturally, as the name itself means ‘Valley of the Deer’ in Scottish Gaelic. But only now has this majestic stag been featured so vividly, so colourfully. Wang’s richly detailed illustrations, gracing the gift boxes of all three expressions in the core range, depict not only the 12-pointed antlers of the impressive stag, rendered in exquisite detail, but also the eastern voyage made by Charles Gordon, the son-in-law of Glenfiddich founder William Grant. In 1909, Gordon set forth from Speyside, carrying with him several cases of whisky and a dream to share with the world the crafted output of the distillery in the Valley of the Deer. His year-long journey helped win the hearts (and palates) of innumerable whisky lovers throughout Asia.

The beautiful limited edition gift packs, which comprise a 700-mL bottle of Glenfiddich in the age of your choice along with two branded whisky glasses, will be available at selected supermarkets, stores, and duty-free outlets.

Happy New Year, and as Glenfiddich says, “Here’s to journeys of good fortune!”

To learn more, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/glenfiddichSEA.