UAE. Dewar’s Double Agent 16 Year Old has been launched with Dubai Duty Free at Dubai International Airport (DXB), backed by a huge on-airport digital engagement campaign from Bacardi Global Travel Retail.
The campaign is spread across six stores, including promotional videos on almost 60 digital screens positioned in high-profile locations throughout the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic.
The visibility is enhanced by DXB’ s collaborative advertising model, a partnership between the airport, Dubai Duty Free and JCDecaux Dicon introduced in January 2018 that is claimed to be the first such collaboration between an airport authority, advertising concessionaire and travel retailer.
Dubai is the first airport in the Middle East to showcase the 100cl Dewar’s Double Agent 16 Year Old (40% ABV, RRP US$70). It is the latest global travel retail-exclusive innovation from Dewar’s, the fifth-largest blended scotch brand in GTR. It has grown in value +35% year-on-year according to IWSR (2021 vs 2020).
The campaign features a hugely ambitious digital out-of-home (DOOH) campaign that follows the passenger journey across all DXB terminals in arrivals and departures. It is designed to drive footfall to Dubai Duty Free for shoppers to discover Dewar’s Double Agent 16 Year Old.
Dewar’s visibility ensures engagement throughout arrivals, including the baggage arrivals hall and in close proximity to ATMs. Meanwhile in the stores themselves, digital screens on the façades invite further exploration, complemented by wrap-around pillars and creative brand engagement at point of sale.
A full-height, rose gold circular gondola display works to “intrigue and inform shoppers”, with in-store communication and pack design explaining the alchemy in the art of Dewar’s blending. The presentation highlights the 50:50 split of the sweet and smoky flavour profiles of Dewar’s Double Agent 16 Year Old.
The creation of Dewar’s Double Agent 16 Year Old
The blend in Dewar’s Double Agent 16 Year Old brings together Jerez and Islay Malt Whisky casks, which create sweet and smoky flavours respectively.
This pairing is deployed to enhance and amplify the flavours of dried fruit, citrus, smoke and black pepper, balancing the two cask finishes to the harmony of one blend.
Selected malt whiskies and finest grain whiskies are aged separately in oak casks for a minimum of 16 years to create the Dewar’s Double Agent 16 Year Old expression.
Following maturation, the whiskies are blended together and aged once again in oak casks. On completion of the signature Dewar’s double aging process, the whisky takes a new direction and is separated into two batches.
One batch is then finished in sweet Oloroso sherry casks and the other in smoky, peaty Islay casks. The final stage is to blend the two liquids together, to create two interpretations, depending on the palette – a sweet whisky with smoky notes, or a smoky whisky with sweet notes.
Bacardi Global Travel Retail Director IMEA Alexey Babin said: “Dewar’s is on a mission to demonstrate its creative flair and excellence in innovation, bringing excitement to the whisky category for new and existing whisky appreciators.
“Dewar’s Double Agent 16 Year Old has already had a storming start on its launch in other locations, recruiting new whisky appreciators and helping to grow the category further. We are extremely pleased with the reaction it is receiving here in Dubai.”
