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 Beyounce
does Samsung and Armani, Chanel has
Keira Knightley and Revlon has Jessica
Biel.
And now The BenRiach Distillery Company
has appointed Dumbarton-born Stewart
Buchanan as its very own Brand
Ambassador!
He'll cover both BenRiach and
GlenDronach whiskies.
"Coming from a production background, I
aim to spread a greater understanding of
the different techniques used at both
distilleries which give the whiskies
their own unique character," said
Stewart, formerly BenRiach's Production
Manager.
A Brand Ambassador is the public face of
an organisation who best embodies its
products and services. And today, in an
era of what communications experts are
calling "conversation marketing", who
better than Stewart who can talk for
hours about his beloved malts!
He explained: "I was working in the
Tobermory Distillery when Billy Walker
and his associates bought BenRiach in
2005. He asked me and Alan McConnochie
to come across to get BenRiach up and
running and back to its original glory.
I lived in the distillery for a month as
I worked all hours of the day and night
preparing to return it to production.
"Seven years on, Billy and Alistair
raised the idea of me moving into the
new role, as previously I've been on the
road helping the sales boys and I think
they saw the benefit of someone with
such a production-orientated background
being more heavily involved with the
tastings and whisky festivals.
"I'll cover all markets in my new
ambassadorial role, spending most of my
time on the road. Our existing markets
are growing, new markets are opening up
for BenRiach and GlenDronach all the
time and the company really needs this
extra resource to support the ongoing
development of both brands.”
He added: "The type of events we attend
are mostly with whisky enthusiasts who
are really looking for as much
information as possible, so hopefully I
can answer most questions thrown at me."
Tastings can range from 25 people in the
back room of a pub in Glasgow to 100
people in a conference room in Japan.
He's just done a tasting for the Glasgow
Whisky Club who said: "Another amazing
night and very educational as Stewart
Buchanan really knew his stuff and an
excellent introduction to the BenRiach
and GlenDronach range for those who
haven't sampled it before."
He's braced for some detailed
questioning at these sessions from
whisky aficionados.
"Someone asked me the yield at BenRiach
which is a simple answer - around 410
litres of alcohol per tonne of barley.
But then his friend asked me: "How many
gallons per bushel is that?" - which
really had me scratching my head! But I
got there eventually."
Stewart's passionate about the whiskies
he helps produce and revealed that he
has three or four personal favourites.
"For special occasions, my "desert
island" whiskies would be the 1976
BenRiach and the 1972 GlenDronach while
my day-to-day dram would be BenRiach
Curiositas alternated with the
GlenDronach 15yr Revival - all
extraordinarily great!"
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