GLENFIDDICH IN CHENNAI

Jens Tholstrup, Global Brand Ambassador for the single malt Scotch whisky, Glenfiddich was in India for promoting Glenfiddich. William Grant & Sons International Limited, the makers of Glenfiddich, are an international Scotch Whiskey company, whose origins go back to 1887. Over a century later, Glenfiddich is still made by the William Grant family and to the same exacting standards that William Grant originally laid down for it.

Tholstrup travels around the world, creating awareness about Glenfiddich and hosting master classes in the 180 markets where the brand is widely available. He ended his 10-day tour of India with Chennai, after visiting Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta and Bangalore. He speaks to Chennaibest on what goes into making Glenfiddich special.

Very hot (laughs)...I am not used to this weather. For the first time in my life I have experienced hot rain. I did not realise there is such a thing. We normally go inside when it rains, but here I got outside because it's wonderful. Also I have been very happy with the presentations and the response. It shows we were right in what we are doing. It is not a big advertising campaign and also we can not advertise. We still had little bit in the papers, a little ad, which is called 'Knights of Inspiration', where we mentioned Glenfiddich, but we do not mention whisky or alcohol. Just that, 'it is simply a chance to try the flavours of Scotland'. What we have been doing is on a lot of different levels. We have had consumer sessions, Hotel staff, bar staff, Managers etc; we have had a session for journalists as well. I have also been training distributors and sales forces. So it's on lots of different levels.

There is no doubt, when we go through it. It is basically easy to tell the difference between a 12, a 15 and an 18-year-old Glenfiddich. And that's what we are trying to do. Trying to describe what whiskey is. You might think whiskey is whiskey, but there are different types of whiskeys around the world. Where I come from, there are different types of whiskey in Scotland. And when we get down to the interactive sessions, I talk about why are we special, why are we different from all the others.  And then eventually people deserve the whiskey or three or four.

A Single Malt is still Scotch. In Scotland you have Blended whiskey and you have Malt whiskey. Malt whiskey has more flavours. Many have heard about Malt whiskey, but they are not quite sure about it. For the people who haven't heard, we can introduce the 12-year oldGlenfiddich. For people who already know the 12-year old, we say ok...why don't you try the 15 or the 18-year old.

Interest...you don't have to be a connoisseur to appreciate it. If you like the flavours, if you are willing to learn...it is all about enjoyment and relaxation. You even have a few connoisseurs in a group, who want to know everything. I am here to answer questions. I don't want to exclude anybody. You can go into a computer store and the guy who's trying to sell the computer has no idea, that you don't know anything about a computer. And he can't talk to you directly, because you are not on the same level. And I think that's important, that no matter who it is, you should be able to talk to them.

You have three ingredients-water, barley and yeast. You get some sugar out of the barley by letting it grow a little bit and then you mill it. Then you add water to it and drain the sugar out of it. You have the sugar liquid, which you add yeast to. This is like beer. It starts to ferment and you make a beer. That beer you put in to copper pot stills. You cook it and distil it; you separate alcohol and flavours from the water. This is basically the raw spirit, it has whiskey flavours, but before it can be called whiskey, it has to mature for three years. We would then mature it for extra nine years. So the youngest Glenfiddich is 12 years old. It is really simple to make, but it takes an awful long time to make. And if you make Malt whiskey, it takes a lot more effort, a lot more hand work, a lot more craft. Which is why Malt Whiskey is a lot more expensive than Blended Whiskey.

Not at all. I think it is going to open chances of more flavours. Because, Indians appreciate a lot of flavours. Our 12 year old is live, its fresh, it is always refreshing to drink. It is great as a pre-dinner drink. The 15-year old is spicier. For Indian food eaters, it is perfect. I think just between the three Glenfiddich we cater for a lot of flavours.

The climate to me makes a difference, in the sense that when I am inside, all buildings here are extremely cold. So, I like it basically neat. When I am outside I want to cool it down and so on. But if I really want to taste more flavours in a whiskey, I can add a little bit of water to it. Water actually makes more flavours come out.

I have been asked that by bartenders as well. I would leave that to them. That's their job. I would say if you buy Malt Whiskey, you are buying it for its flavours. So, you tend not to put coke or lemonade or things like that. You tend to do that with blended whiskey. Again I have no objection to any of that. But you are paying a lot of money for extra flavours. The first choice would be…neat, the next with water, then with ice or may be with mineral water.

The reason we decided to target India was that on the 1^st of April we were told that Scotch Whiskeys are allowed into India. And India is the biggest Whiskey market for Indian Whiskey. We saw a great opportunity here. Then when we came on the 1^st of April, the taxes were raised even more. We were allowed in, but really we are paying somewhere between 600 - 700% tax on a bottle, which is basically keeping us out anyway. And it means there is a lot of whiskey smuggled into the country. The Indian Government is losing out, because the bottles are sold anyway, but they are sold through neighbouring countries. So there is a very big black market. The way to fight it would be to allow us in. We are not a direct competitor to Indian Whiskey; of course there is a huge market for that. It is certainly cheaper, it is more Industrial Whiskey and there is a market for that. And there should also be a market for people who want to eat better, drink better. What we would really do is create a niche.

Glenfiddich is available in 180 markets around the world. It is the biggest Malt Whiskey. But again Malt Whiskey is more traditional flavour wise and so on. William Grant & Sons is still a family concern and so we do not have end less amount of money to throw at the brand. What we are doing is dropping a stone into the pond, and hope that knowledge will spread like rings in the water. We are not going to immediately put in a lot of money on that, because it is very difficult for us to sell, as we are not in the shops. We would only be found in private clubs, hotels and bars and so on.

We haven't just hit one group here. It's been different ages and there have been some women as well. Normally, Whiskey is seen as a man's drink. May be in the beginning the women came in because, their men were going. Actually by allowing them to do a little bit of nosing and putting a little bit of water, it becomes palatable. The idea is that although we are a traditional Malt Whiskey, we do not have to sell it the traditional way. It comes in a triangular bottle, which shows that we are different in a few ways. Its for people to enjoy, its not just for one group of people.

I think its crucial with knowledge and I think if they are asked in a bar, what they could recommend….of course we are not paying them to say, Glenfiddich is good. But now that they know about Malt Whiskeys in general and Glenfiddich in particular, they can be more confident in maybe trying whiskeys themselves. Once they have tried, they will obviously see that Glenfiddich is special. If not the best, it is one among the best. I am not saying the others are bad whiskeys, I want to be objective. There are many other whiskies but these are the reasons for choosing Glenfiddich. That's what the barmen like; I mean you are being honest and objective. Of course I work for Glenfiddich and I want to promote that and I happen to think and I happen to know that we are special in the way that we make it. We are very unique. So we do have some selling points.

We are not really competing with them. What we are selling is flavours not mixability. We are not competing with them directly. We are not really competing directly with anybody. Maybe with Johnny Walker Black and Chivas 12 in parts, because some of their patrons will may be move on to Malt Whiskies. But really we are creating a niche in India, which I think could be quite big, but will not take away things from others.