The Balvenie marks ‘oil week’ at Aberdeen

William Grant & Sons’ The Balvenie has staged a craft-focused activation at Aberdeen airport coinciding with a major oil and gas industry conference.

The Balvenie celebrated craft with a kilt-making partnership at Aberdeen airport.

The brand owner partnered with Aberdeen International Airport and World Duty Free Group to host the activity from 8-11 September while the Offshore Europe Conference & Exhibition took place.

Celebrating the link between The Balvenie and traditional crafts, regarding kilt maker Beverley Scarlett led a hand-stitching demonstration.

In addition to the display, departing passengers were offered a taste of the retail exclusive The Balvenie Triple Cask range.

William Grant & Sons Global Travel Retail Europe hailed the event a major success, reporting a 228% weekly sales uplift, versus the 27% increase in the combined malt whisky category.

“The character and exceptional quality of The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whisky is due to the fact that the distillery retains a level of craftsmanship that other malt whisky producers no longer tend to employ,” said William Grant & Sons director Europe travel retail, Andre de Almeida.

“It is this unbreakable bond between the maker and its product that we wanted to showcase at Aberdeen Airport as it highlights the importance of the craft – whether making the best example of hand-stitched kilts or the epitome of craftsmanship: The Balvenie.”

The Balvenie claims to be the only distillery to grow its own barley, use traditional malting floors, have a team of coopers and a coppersmith on hand, and a malt master to hand-select whiskies for bottling.

In August, The Balvenie took its craft focus to Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) Departures Emporium with a pop-up bar.