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Sandy Hyslop: Royal Salute in ‘golden period’
Royal Salute’s master blender Sandy Hyslop explains how the brand is now flourishing thanks in part to a ramp-up in interest for blended whiskies.
Hot off the heels of launching its 62 Gun Salute collection in July – three prestige whiskies priced above US$3,000 that pay homage to a Tower of London tradition – Chivas Brothers-owned Royal Salute is in a “golden period”, Hyslop told us.
Hyslop, who also presides over other Chivas Brothers blended whiskies in Ballantine’s and Chivas Regal (the world’s second- and third-biggest-selling Scotch brands), believes the uptick in demand comes from the brand’s innovative releases, plus a “genuine interest in blended whisky”.
Of that “golden period”, he cites the slew of one-batch releases such as the Polo editions – inspired by destinations where the sport of polo is popular, such as Argentina, Miami and Jodhpur in India – as “selling really well” and capturing consumer imagination.
“They are very engaging for consumers because they are one-off batches,” he explains. “It gives myself and my team an opportunity to really be quite creative because we can make something and not have to worry about making it next year, or the year after. It’s not just about making lots of new expressions that are going to be there forever. They’re going to come and go.”
This, Hyslop notes, coincides with a growing interest in blended whisky and the ability to innovate within the category, catching the interest of drinkers for whom single malts may have been the priority in the past.
Innovation critical
Acknowledging that with blends there is more scope for innovation, he says: “When it comes to single malts, you’re harnessed by the kind of casks you’re maturing, but with blends, you can play all sorts of different tunes. There are lots of different things you can do before you even bring in the dimension of the cask – making it sweeter, more floral, or more smoky.
“I’m very lucky here at Chivas Brothers. I am really encouraged to experiment with no pressure about it not working. I’ve got a good clear budget that I’m under no pressure to cut; I can bring casks in and so on.
“I’m trying to stay ahead of the curve all the time and that’s how we ended up with the Polo Estancia edition. We’ve finished in Amarone [an Italian wine cask finish that pays tribute to the country’s landscapes and architecture]. We’ve done all sorts of different rum finishes. We are bringing in our own blend of Sherry now. I think I have 104 cask experiments live at the moment, across the whole portfolio – and none of them are under pressure to become an innovation.
“For me, that’s the key way to work. If you’re doing the experimentation, some of them will lead to amazing NPD [new product development], but you’ve got to be working out of the NPD process, as well as working within it. Innovation is critical. If the product is amazing, people will want to try different expressions from that one family.”
Though he wasn’t able to disclose the specifics, Hyslop says Royal Salute will continue to innovate with NPD much in the same way it has in the past few years.
He added: “We’re going to innovate, we’re going to collaborate with different people from the fashion and art industries, and with our Polo collection and how that travels around the world.
“[For Polo] we’re going to be picking different countries where we can reflect the flavour of that country – a bit like our Jodhpur edition, where we used brand-new oak barrels to give a real spicy flavour coming through to the whisky.”
Wider strategy
Once seen as a hidden gem, Royal Salute has been steadily growing as a brand worldwide for the past five to 10 years, Hyslop comments. In Chivas Brothers’ most recent financial results, for the first half of fiscal 2024, the brand grew by 8%. Meanwhile, in fiscal 2023, the brand led Chivas Brothers’ Scotch portfolio with a sales increase of 32%.
While there isn’t a particular country that’s an absolute hotspot and the demand for the brand is widespread, Hyslop considers Taiwan a “big market” for Scotch whisky as a whole. According to the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), it was the fourth-biggest market by value for Scotch in 2023.
He says: “Taiwan is the only country in the world where single malts sell more than blends. We recognise that and we recognise that the Taiwanese palate is very, very developed. I was in Taiwan last week for the launch of the 62 Gun Salute, and the questions I was getting asked during the Q&A were phenomenal. The depth of knowledge that they have about Scotch whisky already is unbelievable.
“We have our Royal Salute 23 Years Old as a Taiwan exclusive. The Glenlivet 13 Year Old (100% Sherry cask-matured) is also a Taiwan exclusive. We really recognise the kind of whiskies that they want, the kind of whiskies they are looking for and what really suits their palate. We’ve done a lot of work with Taiwan – specifically giving them products that are not available anywhere else in the world.”
As for the wider strategy, including Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s, Hyslop says he isn’t “absolutely” catering his focus to younger consumers, but respects the newer generation’s knowledge.
He observes: “They are quite astute. They’re not just buying whisky, they’re buying the whole story, the whole product, how it is formulated, and what you’ve done to make it special.
“It’s also about making whiskies that are versatile because consumers these days are more experimental. They want to try it in different ways, whether in a Highball or any cocktail – that is absolutely not frowned upon these days. The younger generation love Ballantine’s and love mixing it. So when you’re developing whiskies like Chivas Regal 12, you want it to be a cracking base.
“We’re experimenting all the time to try and see what we can do from a flavour perspective, but we are very mindful that it needs to be authentic and discernibly different from the hero brand. When people try them side by side, they really have to get the difference.
“It’s not just a story, it needs to be authentic – or it’s not happening on my watch.”
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