William Grant & Sons brings a Winter Storm to Singapore

William Grant & Sons returns to TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference (Basement 2 N19) on the back of very strong regional performance in 2017. The company reports growth ahead of the industry in almost every spirits category in which it is present with Glenfiddich maintaining the top spot in Single Malt both in volume and value, while the launch of the Glenfiddich Cask Collection refresh and Experimental Series created real excitement within the category.

In Singapore that excitement is set to continue with the introduction of the third in the Glenfiddich Experimental Series: Glenfiddich Winter Storm, a single malt whisky finished in Canadian icewine casks. WGS has teamed up with Peller Estate winery in Niagara to create a 21 year old whisky finished in French oak icewine casks. The resulting Winter Storm is a short, crisp premium liquid imbued with a unique layer of sweetness and complexity.

Winter Storm is the creation of Glenfiddich malt master, Brian Kinsman following a trip to Canada in January 2016, during which he toured the Peller Estate vineyards where grapes are picked at night when temperatures can drop to -10˚C. Back at the Dufftown distillery he experimented with the casks, filling them with various Glenfiddich aged malts and discovering that only rarer whiskies aged for 21 years could cope with the extra icewine intensity.

Along with Glenfiddich’s signature notes of candied sweets and oak, the resulting liquid has flavours of tropical fruit and wine. Described as a perfect Glenfiddich 21 year old, Peller Estate’s VP of winemaking Craig McDonald sees it as “a unique balance of the warming soul of whisky and the frozen cold of Icewine.” The taste is a perfect combination of both pioneering liquids, the heightened candied sweets and oakiness of Glenfiddich, complemented by mouth-watering tropical fruit notes and underlying wine notes.

Presented in a white ceramic bottle and embossed presentation box, Glenfiddich Winter Storm joins Glenfiddich IPA Experiment and Glenfiddich Project XX, which both launched to Global Travel Retail in 2017 following a remarkably successful domestic launch to selected markets in 2016.

Also highlighted in Singapore will be Glenfiddich Cask Collection Finest Solera, the first in a series of rare whisky expressions by Glenfiddich developed in collaboration with Baccarat - world famous manufacturer of the finest crystal glassware.

Exclusive to GTR, Finest Solera is presented in a unique, hand-blown, numbered and signed Baccarat decanter; the stunning presentation of the whisky matching the exceptional flavour profile of this superlative single malt. Brian Kinsman selected up to 20 of the finest casks from Glenfiddich’s extensive collection of rare whiskies, which have been maturing in Bourbon and American Oak casks. He then married these whiskies for at least two months using Glenfiddich’s unique Solera process, in a specially dedicated tun that can only hold 2,000 litres, creating a rich, balanced whisky with complex flavours.

Only when Brian believes the liquid is ready will he release the whisky, which is then hand-decanted into exquisite Baccarat decanters.  Each batch is numbered, with a maximum of 600 bottles per batch.  With Brian carefully selecting different casks for each new batch, no two batches will ever be the same. This highly desirable travellers’ exclusive is sold complete with a beautiful presentation box, making it an ideal premium gift or special purchase for lovers of luxury and the finer things in life.  

Showing its lighter side, the stand will also feature the latest Monkey Shoulder and Hendrick’s activations, the latter in the lead up to this year’s World Cucumber Day on June 14^th.  Once again, key airports globally will be using innovative and interactive promotional tools to bring the Hendrick’s brand to life in a fun and disruptive way to promote this annual event designed to honor the key ingredient of a perfect Hendrick’s and Tonic”: the cucumber.

As is now customary, Tuesday evening sees the annual William Grant & Sons event where visitors will be able to try a number of cocktails featuring its leading brands. This will also be a perfect time to meet Matthew Williams - new Regional Director for Asia Pacific Global Travel Retail. Matthew has joined WGS from Amer Sports Corporation where he was Regional Sales Director (VP) Asia Pacific, prior to which he held various leadership roles with Diageo.

“This is an incredibly exciting year for WGS,” says GTR Managing Director Ed Cottrell. “We plan to continue winning and to ‘win bigger’ with our customers through resourcing and aligned planning, continuing to be best known for our disruptive creativity through brand activation and product innovation. There are ongoing challenges in the channel, of course, but we will see huge potential for growth and new business.”

“One of these growth areas is North Asia.” commented Williams. “Following our strong performance in South Korea, new distribution agreements in Japan and a changing landscape in Greater China the GTR APAC team has been making significant progress in growing our footprint across these markets as a whole.” added Williams.

“We continue to see huge potential for WGS brands in Asia Pacific and, with our ability to bring fantastic theatre and consumer engagement to the airport environment, we predict a very exciting time ahead for us in a region leveraging the massive growth in tourism over the next few years.”