• Cellar Reserve Collections in Time for Christmas

  • Just in time for Christmas, we announced Chivas Brothers’ new Cellar Reserve Collections, featuring old and ultra-rare bottlings from The Glenlivet, Aberlour and Scapa distilleries. Scotch fans were particularly excited to hear about this release, because the collections are typically only available as distillery exclusives. For the first time ever, these limited-edition liquids were opened up to Scotch fans who aren’t able to visit the distillery in person.

    Some standout bottlings from the collections included Aberlour 44 Year Old, the oldest release to ever come from the distillery, with just 40 bottles available; and Scapa 42 Year Old, also the distillery’s oldest release – with only 12 bottles available.

    We sparked conversation about the collections via a two-pronged approach to media outreach, announcing to consumer media with a Christmas gifting-focused pitch, and to trade titles with a separate trade release. As a result, we gained a number of pieces of coverage across top-tier consumer lifestyle and trade titles, including Esquire, GQ, Evening Standard, The Scotsman, Master of Malt, and Whisky Advocate. Some coverage highlights include Esquire naming the collections as one of their ‘Best Alcohol Gifts for Christmas’, and GQ featuring Scapa 42 Year Old as ‘Scotch of the Week’.

    We were able to sustain the momentum of the announcement throughout the Christmas gifting period and well into January, by enabling journalists to try the whiskies for themselves – which is always a hit! We were delighted to have access to samples from every bottling, even those as old and special as Aberlour 44 Year Old and The Glenlivet 40 Year Old, which allowed media to enjoy a sip of whisky history in their very own homes, before publishing detailed reviews of their drams.