Following its success in European travel retail, Bacardi’s Glen Deveron single malt Scotch whisky has now launched in Asia Pacific at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The DFZ arrival hall store, The Zon Duty Free, is the first in Asia to stock the brand.

 

Once cleared through customs in the new terminal, incoming passengers – numbering an average of 600,000 per month – are greeted with a prominent activation devised by Bacardi Global Travel Retail in partnership with DFZ.

 

DFZ is the largest home-grown local duty free retailing group in Malaysia and has more than 40 outlets strategically located throughout Malaysia and major entry and exit points, including airport, seaport, border town and popular tourist destinations.

 

Travellers coming through KLIA are invited to stop and taste the three Glen Deveron expressions: a 16, 20 and 30 year-old, all exclusive to travel retail. Promotions staff also hand out complimentary green apples, representing one of the stand-out sweet, fruity notes of the Highland whisky.

 

Commenting on the activation, which runs until 31 August, Irving Holmes Wong Regional Director Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Bacardi Global Travel Retail, comments, “Glen Deveron is an amazing innovation and one that we have big ambitions for here in Asia Pacific.

 

 

Across the region there is a strong opportunity for our brown spirits, where we are unlocking the potential of single malts.

 

“More of today’s travellers are entering ‘the second stage of luxury’ where they use the knowledge they have on brands as a key purchase consideration. They are particularly attracted to the innovation in our brands and there’s a clear emergence where they seek to show their discernment by choosing less mainstream brands. The appeal of our malts is that they are truly authentic, crafted alternatives that fit with these consumers’ own definition of self-identity and for those looking for something different to what the previous generation would have consumed.”

 

Mr Ong Bok Siong, Managing Director of DFZ KLIA says, “We’re really excited to have this promotion running in the early days of the new terminal. Its location right by security means there is strong disruption with arriving passengers who are interacting very positively with the brand and the promotional mechanic, which is driving footfall and conversion in the store itself.”

 

The Glen Deveron collection is crafted from previously unreleased rare, aged whiskies that have been hand-selected from the distillery’s private reserve by award-winning Master Blender Stephanie Macleod. Each malt is matured using generous amounts of fine sherry oak casks to produce a fuller, fruitier taste marked by flavours of apple and toasted cereals. As the whisky matures, more complex notes emerge of roasted nuts, exotic fruits and eucalyptus.