Held on the 16th of May 2011, Whisky Live 2011 was indeed one of the Whisky events of the year, bringing together the leaders of the whisky world under one roof. Sgwhisky was lucky enough to have been there for the trade session of Whisky Live and the review of the event here.
On top of being part of such a great event, Sgwhisky was also fortunate to have been able to speak to several industry leaders who were present at the event. The event itself attracted leaders from all sections of the whisky world, from the distributors to the distillers, and Sgwhisky caught up with some of them to hear their take on the event and the Singapore market. Here are excerpts of the interviews with four of the industry leaders that were present at the event.
Andrew Laing (L) with Andrew Skene (R)
Andrew Laing
One of the representatives at The Single Cask booth at Whisky Live 2011, Andrew Laing is one of the heads of Independent bottler Edition Spirits Limited. He was at the event marketing The Single Cask series, a new series his company had released with 4 great single cask expressions from 4 Scotch whisky distilleries, which were released in Singapore this May.
Andrew saw Whisky Live 2011 as a great one-stop place for all sorts of whisky, and a great place for people to learn more. He also sees Singapore as an emerging and exciting new place for the single malt whisky market, and hence his decision to release exclusive whiskies such as The Single Cask to the Singapore market. To whet the appetite of fans of these single cask releases, Andrew also revealed plans to bring two new single cask expressions, one from Highland Park and the other a mouth-watering 40 Year Old from Tomintoul.
James Cowan
As the Regional Brand Director for BenRiach distillery, James represented the more distiller-centric viewpoint of the whisky market. When asked about his views on the Singapore market, James stressed the interesting shift in consumer tastes from blended whiskies to single malt whiskies, something which gives great encouragement to producers of single malt whiskies. James also stated that Singapore was a crucial transit point of the region, and hence the traffic coming through Singapore from around the world and the region made it an ideal destination to market single malt whiskies.
As for any new releases from BenRiach, James highlighted that there were new single cask expressions (much like the 1988 and 1990 single casks for Singapore only expressions) from casks ranging from as old as 1966 to be released as early as next month.
Thierry Benitah
One can say that in many ways, if it were not for Thierry and his family, Whisky Live 2011 may never have happened. The Managing Director of La Maison Du Whisky is well respected in the whisky world, and it was his father who founded this famous retailer of whisky. Thierry was at Whisky Live 2011 to help raise awareness for the 'Whiskies of the World' that La Maison Du Whisky had on offer, and offered a very detailed and frank assessment of the event and the Singapore market.
Thierry pointed out that despite strong loyalties to specific brands of whisky in Singapore, there has been a significant evolution towards other brands in the past 4-5 years. He feels that this shift in loyalties have come about through increased knowledge from consumers especially from bars which have been good ambassadors for the whisky brands in Singapore. As for Whisky Live itself, Thierry felt that it aided the industry at two levels: firstly, it helps bartenders and industry players to learn more from the event so as to raise a more comprehensive awareness of the brands. Secondly, it helps the consumer itself. The enthusiasm of the consumers in Singapore is a great cause of joy to Thierry, which has seen the enthusiasm for whisky drop in major European markets. Thierry hence hopes that Whisky Live can continue to sustain this growing enthusiasm from both retailers and consumers alike.
Thierry also hoped that this event would raise greater awareness for standard whiskies, such as the classic expressions of various distilleries. This was due to the fact that the affluent market of Singapore meant that exposure to exclusive, expensive whiskies is decently high, and hence the 'standard' whiskies have been somewhat neglected or forgotten. Whisky Live hence served as an opportunity to showcase the quality of the classic expressions of the various distilleries.
Thierry was tight lipped regarding any new whiskies from La Maison Du Whisky, but he did reveal plans to release a 100% Islay Kilcoman single malt expression, meaning a single malt which raw materials, production
and maturation were all from Islay or took place in Islay.
Jeremy Moreau
Lastly, the review of this event would not be complete without the man behind the event, General Manager of La Maison Du Whisky Singapore, and organiser of Whisky Live 2011, Jeremy Moreau.
Taking time out from his busy schedule on the day, Jeremy shared with Sgwhisky on his views on the Singapore market. In a frank assessment of the market, Jeremy felt that Singapore's F&B industry still has much potential for growth, but has seen a significant change in the past for years. Whilst the industry itself seems to be the trend setters in other Asian markets like Japan and Taiwan, Jeremy felt that consumers were the ones who set the trends here in Singapore's whisky industry.
On Whisky Live 2011, Jeremy hoped that such events would push retailers out of their comfort zone and also help smaller, emerging brands push forward into the market. As for the consumer, this event would hopefully just be a chance to have fun and try whiskies that they have never gotten to try before.
As for new whiskies, Jeremy too was tight lipped, though he revealed that La Maison Du Whisky does get new stuff every month. He also spoke of an impending arrival of the Glenlivet 70YO from Gordon & Macphail, though no details have been released about it yet.
Sgwhisky would like to take this chance to thank the various industry leaders who took time off their schedule to talk about their views of the Singapore market, and we in Singapore definitely look forward to many a new whisky from the various distilleries, retailers and independent bottlers as our country's whisky market grows!
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