Bacardi Global Travel Retail extends channel-exclusive range with Aultmore Cash Finish Collection

Bacardi Global Travel Retail Division has launched The Aultmore Cask Finish Collection of single malt whiskies as a travel retail-exclusive range. The collection is now available in Europe and IMEA, launching later in the year in Asia Pacific. It was introduced to partners at last month’s TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition.

Comprising four expressions (12, 18, 21 and 25 Year Old), The Aultmore Cask Finish Collection is an elevated development of the existing range with a move to different cask finishes for each expression, as well as smaller, more sustainable and giftable 50cl bottles.

Recommended retail prices are as follows: 12 Year Old: US$58; 18 Year Old: US$170; 21 Year Old: US$250; 25 Year Old: US$500 (all 50cl)

For each variant, a different cask type and finish has been chosen to enhance and complement Aultmore’s light, herbal and grassy character.

The primary cask type for all four whiskies in The Aultmore Cask Finish Collection are refill hogshead and barrels. The 12-Year-Old is then finished in second-fill Oloroso sherry casks which impart soft, creamy toffee notes, according to Bacardi. The 18 Year Old is finished in second-fill Madeira wine casks, delivering “exotic fruit aromas and a hint of dry spice”.

The 21-Year-Old features a finish in second-fill Calvados brandy casks, with apple and toasted almond notes, while the oldest expression in the range, the 25 Year Old, is finished in rich first-fill Oloroso sherry casks, offering “intense tropical notes, beeswax and spice”.

All four whiskies are bottled at 46% ABV and are non-chill-filtered with no caramel colouring. The company explained the switch to a smaller 50cl bottle size, saying it is “a more giftable and easy to carry size that’s also a perfect collectible set and allows wider travel-retail distribution”.

The new collection also features recyclable secondary packaging and a new tin seal on the bottle top means that all the packaging for the Aultmore range is plastic-free, in keeping with Bacardi’s global sustainability commitments.

“Aultmore is usually all about heralding its spirits and the wood, with little intervention,” said Malt Master Stephanie Macleod. “This collection takes a different approach and shows Aultmore in a contrasting light, while still allowing the distillery’s character to shine through.”

Bacardi Global Travel Retail Managing Director Leila Stansfield added: “With their unique cask finishes, The Aultmore Cask Finish Collection is a very special opportunity for whisky lovers seeking out new discoveries on their travels. The fact that they are travel-retail exclusive and come in a smaller, more giftable format only adds to their appeal.”

According to recent research from travel-retail research consultancy m1nd-set, nine out of ten travellers are likely to purchase duty-free exclusive spirits for themselves or as a gift, while over half of travellers identified a ‘unique spirit’ such as a cask finish as the most important aspect of a travel-retail exclusive spirit.

As noted above, the range was introduced to the industry at TFWA Asia Pacific alongside the new Dewar’s Double Double Stone Toasted – another of the key launches for the brand owner this year.

Dewar’s Double Double Stone Toasted features a Discovery Pack of two expressions, brought to the market first with China Duty Free Group last month. The Discovery Pack rolls out to other travel retail locations in Asia Pacific, India and the Middle East and the Americas from June (RRP US$440).

Leila Stansfield, Bacardi Global Travel Retail Advocacy Manager AMEA Igor Pachi and Marketing Director Darragh Ryan introduced both Dewar’s Double Double Stone Toasted and The Aultmore range to media guests at a special event in Singapore on 13 May.

Stansfield said: “Our strategy is all about how we inspire and delight consumers, whether they know our brands or are coming to them for the first time. It’s not enough to just have a nice product on the shelf today, you have to create an experience around it.

“Within that strategy we talk about super-charging our brands and disrupting the future. We have identified two categories that are critical to success in future: whisky, which is the fastest growing category in travel retail, and tequila.

“To excite and delight the traveller we need to give them a reason to walk into our stores, and to offer them something they cannot get elsewhere. That’s why these new innovations, launched as travel retail exclusives, are an important part of our plans.”

The Aultmore tasting notes (courtesy of Bacardi):

The Aultmore Cask Finish Collection 12 Year Old 2^nd Fill Oloroso Finish: Elegant and floral with summer fruits and soft creamy toffee notes with hints of cinnamon.

The Aultmore Cask Finish Collection 18 Year Old 2^nd Fill Madeira Finish: Freshly mown grass, accompanied by sun-ripened red cherries with a twist of orange peel and dry spice on the finish.

The Aultmore Cask Finish Collection 21 Year Old 2^nd Fill Calvados Finish: Fragrant, flowering apple orchards alongside almonds and delicate oaky notes.

The Aultmore Cask Finish Collection 21 Year Old 1^st Fill Oloroso Finish: Balanced and complex with fresh figs, sultanas and dried tropical fruits mingling with hints of beeswax and cinnamon spice. ✈