Independent family distiller William Grant & Sons’ label, Grant’s, will launch a three-strong duty free and travel retail exclusive range called Grant’s Elementary targeting premium stores in the channel from next year.

The range includes the rare Grant’s 29yo blend and is designed to push the brand up “the value ladder” according to Ian Taylor, Head of Marketing, Global Travel Retail at William Grant & Sons. “This is the brand’s first big news in GTR for many years,” he notes.

Stella David, CEO of William Grant & Sons, an engineer by training, adds: “Consumers in travel retail are looking for new taste experiences yet remain fascinated by provenance – Grant’s new Elementary range answers that demand in a way that no other whisky brand can.

“We’ve drawn on the aged stocks that we’ve accumulated over 125 years as a family-run business and the expertise of the blending team to produce these three whiskies.”

PERIODIC TABLE LINK

Developed by a team led by Master Blender, Brian Kinsman, the individual Grant’s Elementary variants each champion a critical element of the whisky-making process. The blends explore the impact of carbon, oxygen and copper on whisky, and their age statements relate to their position in the Periodic Table of elements: a Carbon 6yo, Oxygen 8yo, and Copper 29yo.

Pricing is scaled against the Family Reserve range with Carbon at £30/$46 above the equivalent 6yo from that range, and Oxygen £60/$91 above the equivalent 8yo. The Copper 29yo will retail for £215/$327.

The Carbon product’s smoky taste reflects both the lightly-peated whiskies used in the blend and the impact of carbon during cask maturation. Matured inside charred oak casks, the whisky (40% ABV, available in 1l or 20cl bottle and 5cl test tubes) is smoother as the carbon layer in the oak acts as a natural filter.

Sweet-tasting Oxygen (40% ABV, available in 1l or 20cl bottles and 5cl test tubes) is a blend of single grain whiskies matured for eight years or more, with single grain distilled under vacuum at its heart. The sweetness reflects the removal of oxygen from the grain spirit during vacuum distilling. “In an oxygen deficient environment, distillation can occur at a lower temperature producing a crisp, sweetened flavour profile,” says Grant’s.

The highlight is the Copper 29yo (40% ABV, available in 70cl bottles, 5cl test tubes) which is a blend of prestigious whiskies with a flavour profile that balances sweet and smoky. This premium expression celebrates the role copper plays during whisky-making. Single malt whiskies used in this blend are distilled in copper pot stills before maturation, and grain whiskies also react with sacrificial copper plates inside the column still to smooth out any sulphuric elements in the spirit, extract the harsh flavours and produce a delicately-balanced flavour.