MORE than 750 whisky experts from China visited Scotland’s most distinctive whisky region this week.
The Chivas Brothers colleagues arrived in Scotland for the four-day event on July 22.
China is an important market for the Scotch industry, representing more than half of the global Scotch trade, with 25 bottles of Scotch exported to China every minute.
Chivas Brothers recently enjoyed double digit growth in this market, with Scotch growing 18% in value, driven by the success of its blended Scotch whiskies in its last half year financial results.
Employees from Pernod Ricard China, which is an affiliate of Chivas Brothers’s parent company, Pernod Ricard, toured Speyside where they visited Strathisla Distillery, the home of Chivas Regal; The Glenlivet Distillery, the first licensed distillery in the parish; and popular Single Malt distillery Aberlour.
The guests experienced Chivas Brothers’s world-renowned brands, including Chivas Regal, The Glenlivet, Royal Salute, Ballantine’s and Aberlour, taking part in guided tastings, delivered by the experts behind them.
The visitors were also invited to don tartan kilts and sashes at a Highland dinner where they had the opportunity to taste some of the best whisky Scotland has to offer.
The two companies already have a strong working relationship and the trip developed this further through an internal conference, designed to facilitate knowledge-sharing.
Neil MacDonald, brand experience director at Chivas Brothers, said: “We are delighted to be able to host our colleagues from China and show them all the wonderful sights and industries we have to offer here in Scotland.
“Visiting the birthplace of our brands and becoming immersed in their craftsmanship and heritage really is the best way to understand what makes each of them unique.
“The experiences that our Chinese colleagues have in Scotland, the people they meet, the Scottish celebrations and being at our distilleries will fuel their personal story-telling to colleagues, consumers and trade back in China.
“This creates even stronger opportunities for our brands and Scotch whisky as a whole.
“China is a very important market for us, and we expect its significance will only continue to grow over the coming years.
“By fostering even stronger ties with our colleagues, we’re confident this trip will help us build on our solid partnership for the future.”
Other excursions will include a trip to Loch Ness, followed by a football tournament at Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC’s stadium where teams from Chivas Brothers will take on teams from Pernod Ricard China in a World Cup themed match.
Chivas Brothers is the only Pernod Ricard business dedicated entirely to Scotch whisky and comprises a range of single malt and blended whiskies.
The company has 1600 employees, 14 Scotch distilleries, two bottling facilities and more than 300 warehouses across its 26 sites including Orkney.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here