Whisky Focus - The Balvenie Dipping Dog

Many of you seasoned single malt whisky drinkers will already be familiar with the term "Dipping Dog". Dipping Dogs were once used (I am sure they are not now) by distillery workers to help themselves, opps, I mean liberate whisky from casks in the warehouse. The dog was often tied to the belt and stored down the worker’s trouser leg, they were dropped into casks when the Exciseman’s back was turned. The vessels were affectionately known as ‘dogs’ due to them being a man’s best friend, kept on a lead and always by one’s side.

With this in mind The Balvenie has introduced a new way of serving its premium whisky brand in a number of high-end bars and restaurants. The Balvenie Dipping Dog has been produced to create theatre around the brand and can be found in The Connaught and The Athenaeum in London. In addition, The Balvenie  Dipping Dog has been placed in Bonham’s Hotel in Edinburgh, with First Drinks who are The Balvenie’s UK distributor also introducing the serve ritual at other high end outlets across the UK, including The Roslin Beach Hotel in Essex, The Four Seasons in Hampshire & The Forbury Hotel in Reading.

The Balvenie Brand Manager at First Drinks, Jonny Cornthwaite comments: "We are constantly looking at innovative ways to create noise and talkability around our brands. The Dipping Dog is a fantastic way to bring theatre to the table, giving us a reason to educate bartenders and consumers about The  handcrafted heritage and authenticity.

"The Dipping Dog is a great story and brings to life the brand’s history. In the run up to Christmas when the malt category booms, we hope the Dipping Dog allows The Balvenie to stand out in the on-trade environment and encourage drinkers to explore the range."

The launch of the Dipping Dog concludes a busy year for the brand which is currently in growth, up 41% with a number of new releases including limited edition expressions such as the The Balvenie 50 Year Old and The Balvenie Tun 1401 Batch 5.

As I have already mentioned on the site, The Balvenie has recently launched its new look core range to which it added the new Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 Years Old and Balvenie Doublewood 17 Years Old.

The New Look Balvenie Core Range

The recent launch of The Balvenie DoubleWood 17 Year Old earlier this month was the final piece in the jigsaw of a new look core range from The Balvenie which now looks like this:

• The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old
• The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 Year Old
• The Balvenie DoubleWood 17 Year Old
• The Balvenie PortWood, 21 Year Old

You will notice that I haven't listed The Balvenie Signature 12 Year Old or The Balvenie Single Barrel 15 Year Old as part of the new look core range, this is because they are being phased out next year but I have been told that there are more additions to the the Balvenie core range planned for next year, so watch this space. This new look core range provides a clear and understandable ladder to move up through the range of whiskies.
 

• UK Shops
   
• USA Shops
   
• European Shops
  

Whisky Focus