Road to the Drammies: Ian's Picks

The polls are now closed and the votes are being tabulated.

While we wait for the results, I thought I'd get some friends to pick THEIR choices for a Drammy in each category.

First up: Ian Buxton

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My ‘picks’ for The Drammies
Ian Buxton

Well, the Whisky Writers Union hasn’t declared a strike.  The Oscars may be under threat but the big one carries on.  Yes, The Drammies are with us once again and Kevin asked me for my ‘picks’.  I have no idea which way the voting has gone but, if it were up to me, these babies would come out on top:

Best Packaging
Highland Park 18 "Whisky Amnesty" at Glasgow, Whisky Live
There were some nice things here – I really liked the Port Charlotte tins, for example – but if you had seen the queue of excited whisky fans at the Highland Park stand you’d know this was THE winner.  Tough to think of something genuinely new but the HP boys did it.

Bang for the Buck
Black Bottle
Black Bottle is consistently under-rated.  I would pick Glenfarclas but I’ve got a bigger win in mind for them!

Distiller/Blender/Independent Bottler of the Year
Bruichladdich
It pains me to say it because sometimes they’re just so OTT but you’ve got to hand it to them.

Most Innovative New Product
Single Coffey Malt from Nikka
I’d say the Johnnie Walker Bespoke Blend experience but it’s £3,000 ($6,000) a time and they only offered 10 of them.  It’s a test market, obviously, but what a present for the whisky enthusiast in your life. But, if only for accessibility, my pick is the Single Coffey Malt from Nikka.  Not sure if I like it, but it’s innovative so it wins.

Best New Product (whisky)
Glenfarclas Family Casks.  Glenfarclas Family Casks and, in third place, the Glenfarclas Family Casks.

Best New Product (Non-whisky)
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Please may I be excused?  Obviously there’s a clear and undisputed winner here and I’d like to channel your votes in a certain direction but I’ve seen the public humiliation heaped on those who try to influence the voting so I’m saying nothing!

Most under-rated-whisky
Sheep Dip
I can’t pick Glenfarclas again (can I?), so I’m going for Sheep Dip if only to acknowledge what a great job Alex Nicol is doing and how tough it is for a true independent to succeed. (Will this do Alex?) 

Worst Marketing Campaign
Where to start?  How long do we have?
Ardbeg’s Double Barrel was the most dreadful and ill-considered thing.  Then there was the Blackwood Distiller’s website, until they took half of it down.  Then there are most of the ‘help me build my new distillery if you’ll just buy a cask in advance or “invest” in a membership’ projects.  We could go on.  As you can see, it’s a demanding field and simply to be nominated requires a particularly heroic type of corporate failure.

Out of a distinguished bunch, I’m going for the Glenmorangie brand relaunch, if only for LVMH CEO Christophe Navarre’s classic comment to the Financial Times (and I’m not making this up, check out the 12th October issue if you don’t believe me):

"We are selling l'art de vivre à la francaise" - even when we are selling a malt whisky, with all the DNA that its brand has, we are still selling that essential French identity."

The essential French identity of Glenmorangie? As perhaps they should have said in Fawlty Towers, "Arrogant? Moi?" And has anyone told les seize hommes de Tain?

Comments

[Alex Nicol]

Ian
Thanks for the nod on Sheep Dip.
However, the paragraph on the "Worst Marketing Campaign" is the one I want you to expand on properly, Glenmorangie is going to alienate anyone who has a sense of place and history it really is missing the point and they paid £320mill for it.
Blackwood distillers ought to be in court for their crimes against "stretching the truth" the word is that they are for sale but I can't believe that either.
I'm in California promoting Sheep Dip in Costco stores for six days on my feet for eight hours a day not marketing as we know it Jim but its sunny outside.

[Alex Nicol]

Costco in Danville today to Tuesday then Mountain View Costco Wed/ Thurs come one come all!

[Ian Buxton]

Promoting Sheep Dip in Costco! Child's play. Consider yourself lucky.
While you were enjoying yourself I was in Moscow drinking vodka with an ex-Admiral from the Russian nuclear submarine fleet.
Bad mistake!