Consultancy recruited to promote two premium brands to bartenders
DRINKS consultancy The Drink Cabinet is in the process of developing a new on-trade campaign for two premium brands owned by Inver House Distillers.
The firm, launched in Scotland last year by Andy Gemmell and Lauren Stewart, has been appointed to develop promotional activity for single malt whisky Old Pulteney and small-batch gin brand Caorunn.
The initiative will see Drink Cabinet brand ambassadors Sian Buchan and Emma Andrew working with bartenders across the UK to encourage them to use the spirits and promote different serves.
Both ambassadors worked in cocktail bars prior to joining The Drink Cabinet, including a stint working together at Edinburgh gin and cocktail bar Heads & Tales.
In 2014, while working at Heads & Tales, Buchan was named SLTN Mixologist of the Year.
The Old Pulteney activity will include a UK-wide ‘boomerang competition’, inviting bartenders to experiment with the Old Pulteney Navigator expression to create serves that will attract new drinkers to the whisky category.
The Drink Cabinet will also be visiting select bars across the country with the Old Pulteney Drifter Bar – a custom-built pop-up bar that features handcrafted oak and maritime artefacts – both of which are nods to the whisky’s heritage.
Old Pulteney, nicknamed ‘the maritime malt’, has a strong connection to the Highland fishing industry. The distillery was founded in the heart of Pulteneytown, an area of Wick established to house fishermen in the 18th century, and the whisky is still produced in the town. Last year the distillery formed a fundraising partnership with international charity the Mission to Seafarers.
For Carounn, the team will focus on the brand’s provenance and small-batch credentials, as well as promoting its signature gin and tonic serve with red apple.
“There is so much potential for both Old Pulteney and Caorunn in the UK on-trade and we have created bespoke plans to bring each brand to life with some of the country’s most influential and up and coming bar operators,” said Drink Cabinet co-founder Stewart.
“Both drinks are of exceptional quality and have a wonderful and authentic brand story to tell, giving us a great opportunity to deliver some exciting plans amongst the UK’s bar community this year.”
