As per part of its duty free liquor and tobacco contract, DFS Singapore has opened the doors to its second Wines and Spirits Duplex store at Singapore Changi Airport’s Terminal 2 and launched a seven-week Whiskey Festival at its duplexes T2 and T3 to celebrate the same.

The celebration/promotion will now run until September 10, 2016 simultaneously at DFS’ two locations.

As with the T3 duplex, this latest store has been designed by famous interior designer, Masamichi Katayama and boasts more than 900 products, including 240 wines, spirits and tobacco brands.

Like its T3 forerunner, this T2 outlet is also inspired by the heritage of craftsmanship in the wine, spirits and tobacco worlds, while it also houses three ‘unique’ DFS in-store concepts – the Wine Reserve, the Cigar Room and The Whiskey House.

The first floor features the Wine Reserve featuring more than 350 products from the world’s top wineries, while the curious and connoisseurs’ can explore the Wine Reserve section with tastings from the enomatic [wine dispensing] machine featuring 12 different wines.

By contrast, the ‘The Cigar Room’ welcomes visitors with a wide assortment of the world’s finest cigars from Cuba, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras, plus a range of limited-edition of cigar accessories. There is also special selection of travel sizes for travellers, plus cigar humidors and cases.

‘THE LARGEST ASSORTMENT OF SINGLE MALT WHISKIES’

The store also offers 179 single malt and 68 blended Scotch whiskies, plus 30 American whiskies and other offerings from Japan and beyond such Yamazaki, Hibiki and Suntory Chita and Kavalan from Taiwan.

DFS says that this is ‘the largest assortment of single malt whiskies offered by any travel retailer in the region’ and this reflects DFS Singapore’s reputation as the travel retailer of the year, as awarded by Whisky Magazine in 2015.

DFS said today: “The upper level of the duplex introduces the all new Whiskey House concept, an intuitive and experiential whiskey shopping experience, where guests can enjoy complimentary tastings of over 100 different whiskies from across the globe.

“Based on flavor profiles, the Whiskey House’s staff will design individual sampling experiences for guests to demystify the selection process and make choosing your favorite whiskey a simpler, more engaging and refreshing experience.

INDIVIDUALLY BRANDED BOUTIQUES

“In addition to the Whiskey House, the upper level hosts seven individually branded boutiques from Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Hennessy, Johnnie Walker, Rémy Martin, The Dalmore and The Macallan, all tailored to reflect the unique essence, culture and character of each brand.

“Throughout the year, guests can enjoy visits from master distillers, blenders and brand ambassadors as well as tailored tastings from the brands inside the boutiques.”

 

Meanwhile, from now through to 10 September, The Whiskey Festival will showcase a series of events on Friday and Saturday evenings featuring a different whiskey brand aimed at bringing the event to life (see below).

These will feature guest appearances from the respective brand ambassadors, special master classes and food pairing sessions. Three complimentary whiskey cocktails representing Scotland, the US and Japan will also be available for sampling throughout the festival at the Whiskey House at DFS’ Terminal 2 duplex and The Long Bar by Raffles at DFS’ Terminal 3 duplex.

Commenting on this big event, Philippe Schaus, CEO and Chairman, DFS Group, said: “We are thrilled to unveil our latest Wines and Spirits Duplex in Singapore with our partner Changi Airport.

“Here, at DFS, we continually aspire to deliver the most engaging and exciting experiences for travelers, whether they are at the airport or downtown. We’re confident that through this unique blend of high-end design, carefully curated assortment, exceptional service and interactive experiences we have created another wines and spirits store of a quality and richness that can only be found at DFS.”

Adding her comments, Brooke Supernaw DFS Group’s Senior Vice President Spirits, Wines and Tobacco said: “As Asia Pacific’s largest assortment of single malt whiskies in travel retail, we wanted to bring an interactive experience that reflects our customers’ passion and fascination with whiskey to the Terminal 2 Wines and Spirits Duplex.

“From the Whiskey House to the Whiskey Festival, we’re excited to unveil for our customers a space where they can build their knowledge, expand their palette, discover new brands and fall in love again with the classics.”

Last, but not least, Mr Lee Seow Hiang, CEO of Changi Airport Group, added: “The opening of the second Wines and Spirits Duplex at Terminal 2 marks the fruition of an ambitious and game-changing transformation that Changi Airport had set out to achieve together with DFS.

‘The new duplex represents the positively surprising retail experience which we endeavor to deliver to our passengers, one that allows shoppers to discover, interact and enjoy. We hope it is something for them to look forward to every time they are at Changi Airport.”

Whiskey Festival Weekend

29-30 July: Craigellachie, featuring Ziggy Campbell, Global Brand Ambassador

05-06 Aug: The Macallan, featuring Randall Tan, Brand Advocate and Keith Nair, Brand Trainer

12-13 Aug: Maker’s Mark, with Gordon Dundas, Global Brand Ambassador

19-20 Aug: House of Hazelwood, featuring Jay Gray, Brand Ambassador for Southeast Asia

26 Aug: Beam Suntory Japanese whiskies with Mike Miyamoto, Global Brand Ambassador

02-03 Sep: Glenfiddich with Matthew Fergusson-Stewart, Brand Ambassador for Asia Pacific

09-10 Sep: Bruichladdich, with featuring Richard Gillam, Brand Ambassador.