CHINA. Independent Scotch whisky business Douglas Laing & Co has launched Big Peat Year of the Dragon Edition, bottled exclusively for China Duty Free Group (CDFG).
Douglas Laing & Co has previously launched domestic market-exclusive bottlings of Big Peat Islay malt to commemorate cities, countries, festivals and celebrations.
This latest edition in collaboration with CDFG is its first market exclusive within the travel retail sector, with only 3,000 New Year-special bottlings.
Douglas Laing & Co, represented by the Travel Retail Cooperation, noted: “With 2024 being the year of the wood dragon it provides an ideal opportunity to showcase the impact oak casks have on maturing whisky in terms of flavour and how important wood is to the whisky-making process.”
Travel Retail Cooperation Managing Director Hannes Koch said: “Chinese New Year is the most important time in the Chinese calendar.
“We were approached by our customer CDFG to support them in enriching their offer on special festive products acknowledging the Year of the Dragon and felt our Big Peat brand was the ideal platform for this.
“These collaborations are a great opportunity to offer added value to our retail partners and their customers. Enriching their offer with tailor-made products creates momentum in store.”
Big Peat Brand Manager Emma Reid commented: “Since its inception in 2009, Big Peat has been seriously committed to smoke with ‘his’ big, bold, sooty Islay malt.
“Giving our customers the opportunity to personalise bottlings to suit their markets has been something Big Peat has become renowned for throughout the last 15 years. The ability to do this within the travel retail sector is very exciting.
“We look forward to working with more customers in the sector to offer market-exclusive bottlings in the future.” ✈
