CHIVAS REGAL 18 YO

 THE TRANSFORMATION OF CHIVAS REGAL 18 YEARS OLD
BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY

Two things set Chivas Regal apart from the rest of the Blended Scotch sector: their illustrious history and their line, which consists entirely of middle-aged and old whisky. The brand traces its roots, like so many Blended Scotch brands, to a grocery store blender. Chivas Regal’s grocery blend is somewhat older than the norm, however, and features a tag on the carton and the neck on all bottles blended up to 2017 boasting ‘From 1801’, changed to 'Founded 1801' thereafter. The statements on both the carton and bottle are, however, without foundation. The Chivas brothers in question, James and John, from Strathythan farm at Overtown of Dudwick in Ellon Parish, 20 miles north of Aberdeen, weren’t even born then (1810/1814 respectively.) It is quite probably a legal loophole that is being exploited.

James Chivas’ first sniff of whisky came when he was 28 years old, in 1838, when he joined William Edward, fine grocer and wine-seller in Aberdeen, in his first job as a full-time hired employee. This fine grocery business, which was destined for fame under another name, had been founded in 1801 by John Forrest at 47 Castle Street, Aberdeen. Forrest died in 1828 and Edward, his manager, bought the company from the bereaved family and registered himself as a grocer, wine, and spirits purveyor and provision merchant, one of 209 others in Aberdeen, besides 193 vintners.

James Chivas, hired by Edward in 1838, rose to minor partner that very year, with almost total control over the wines and spirits department, as Edward was struck with a 'palsy' and died overseas just three years later in Madeira in March '41. As Edward had died intestate, his legacy went under judicial probate. In this indistinct period for business out of those premises, James left and joined a similar victuals provender, Charles Stewart as junior partner, registering themselves as Stewart and Chivas, 39 Woolmanhill Street. They returned to buy the vacant 13, King Street property available post-probate later that year and relocated there as a “One-stop-shop.”

James Chivas remained the sole common partner/owner till his death. The company, when known as Edward and Chivas (1838-41) and later Stewart and Chivas (1841-57), had furthered the ex-Forrest company's reputation for excellence from the extravagant shop at 13 King Street and obtained a Royal Warrant to supply luxury goods to Queen Victoria in 1843, the second of thirteen. Between 1843-51, they expanded further and added 9,11 and 23 King Street. The company was dissolved in 1857 when Stewart left and renamed Chivas Brothers with the advent of John Chivas as Partner.

The home base of Chivas Regal is Strathisla distillery, earlier known as Milltown or Milton distillery, which predates the founding of the brand, dating to 1786 and standing as the oldest of the Highland region’s distilleries and the prettiest. It is known to be a tricky customer by blenders as it needs time to hit maturity when its full range of complexities is revealed. This single malt is not seen in any bottling below 10 years. It becomes easy to understand why Chivas Regal has that unique and singular flavour not noted in the thousands of blended brands that are present in or have come and gone over the past 150 years.

The Chivas Regal 18 Year Old is made from 20 different grain and malt whiskies, all 18 years old or older. It comes in the signature Chivas package: a squat, clear glass bottle with the crossed swords label. The bottle does a fine job of showing off one of Chivas Regal’s few consistently good qualities, namely it’s colour. The scotch is bottled at 40% ABV.

Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Gold Signature was first launched in 1997 when Chivas Brothers was still under ownership of Seagram’s, as Pernod Ricard didn’t gain ownership until after the turn of the 21st century. It is a uniquely rich and multi-layered blend that includes over twenty of Scotland’s rarest single malt Scotch whiskies. It claims to have 85 flavour notes packed into every drop as the epitome of complexity. Chivas claims its two most prominent brands here are Strathisla single malt and Strathclyde single grain. Chivas 18 Blue – 2023 Wine gift box is a special version bottled in 2023 specifically for Vietnam.

The most difficult in producing branded whisky is consistency. On the one hand, being able to offer the customer a product that is consistent in quality and flavour profile makes perfect sense when trying to build a brand aiming to establish brand loyalty. On the other hand, dealing with a product where batch production, and therefore, batch variation, is an inescapable element of the whole process, makes for a host of variables like environment, infrastructure, cask management, transportation, wear and tear effects, warehousing conditions, the odd changes in ownership, etc. The ‘copy-paste’ practice simply won’t work, compounded with the fact that one specific brand is sometimes not available, or is available in limited quantity.

Producing blends is less onerous than single malts where grain whisky from the column stills is more reliable, especially so for the brands that go by age. The availability factor will crop up with time as products from a bygone era distillery must dry up (Longmorn and Caperdonich being great examples of what used to be mandatory for the creation of Chivas.) Even so, the task of coming up with a consistent product every single time is challenging. For the Chivas brand alone, master blender Colin Scott works with some 200 different whiskies for the creation of the 12 year old, identifies those that would go into the 15 year old, others that are best left for the 18 year old and so on. Interestingly, with the idea of recreating the 1909 grand 25 year old on his mind, Sandy Hyslop found suitable aged whiskies while ferreting around for the 18 year old and the 25 year old was created in 2007.

In October 2024, Chivas Regal unveiled a bold sleek new look for its five time award-winning Chivas Regal 18. Featuring a 25 percent glass weight reduction on its flagship 70cl bottle and fully recyclable outer packaging, the elevated, redesigned bottle – housing the same award-winning Scotch – reaffirms not only Chivas Regal’s dedication to luxury, but also its wider commitment to reducing its environmental impact. The packaging is designed by Nude Brand Creation.

Whisky enthusiasts around the world will experience Chivas Regal’s award-winning blend in its elevated new look. The updated bottle features a taller, prouder silhouette with rounded shoulders, and a jewel-like, layered, and multi-faceted label. The iconic Luckenbooth, a traditional Scottish symbol that embodies Chivas Regal’s heritage and values, is now positioned at the heart of the label, and embossed into the glass base. The classic Chivas Regal shield and crossed spears – now embossed into the glass for a more refined and luxurious look – signify protection and loyalty, reflecting the brotherhood of James and John Chivas whose descendants' entrepreneurial spirit set the groundwork for the world’s first luxury whisky that made its debut in New York in 1909. The dateline ‘Since 1801’ has been removed.

In addition to the lighter bottle, the updated carton features opulent gold detailing and a gold-coloured tin lid, finished with Chivas Regal Master Blender Sandy Hyslop’s signature in gold lettering. The flagship 70cl bottle’s reduction in glass weight will result in significant environmental benefits, estimated to save over 500 tonnes of glass annually based on FY24 volume sales. The new design brings Chivas Regal 18 in line with Chivas Regal 12, which unveiled a contemporary new look in 2021, and follows the transformations of Chivas Regal Extra and Chivas Regal XV.

ADDENDA

Collaboration with Sports

Announced ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix of 24 Nov 2024 , luxury Scotch whisky Chivas Regal revealed that it will be the ‘Official Team Partner’ of the Scuderia Ferrari HP Formula 1 team in a new global multi-year partnership that unites two iconic heritage brands with a shared legacy in craft, innovation and luxury.

The collaboration sees Chivas Regal – the original luxury blended Scotch whisky – and Scuderia Ferrari HP – the world’s most successful Formula 1 team – come together to celebrate their commitment to collective success, which forms the foundation of the new partnership, focussing on telling the untold stories of teamwork that are critical to success. The partnership with Scuderia Ferrari HP is the latest move for Chivas Regal in its long-standing association with global sports culture, having enjoyed partnerships with Premier League football clubs for many years.

The Unveiling at Dubai

The arrival of a new bottle for its iconic Chivas Regal 18 scotch whisky had been announced globally by Chivas, focusing on how morphing the traditional rounded shape into a taller and slimline silhouette, its refined, clean-cut, and sustainable redesign gave a fresh look to the time-honored craftsmanship that went into its award-winning blend. With the new bottle marking the first-ever Chivas Regal 18 redesign, the brand celebrated the historic moment at a special unveiling event in Dubai on 07 Dec 2024. Continuing to hone in on the artistry of whisky distilling, the concept “Brilliance Takes Time” gave focus to the event, emphasising how the finest things are the result of patience, precision, and the careful balance of time and craftsmanship.

The showstopper of the night, however, was an art installation specially designed by sculptor Idriss B. Best known for his geometric works, the respective installation played on the “Brilliance Takes Time” concept through a polygonal hourglass design showcasing the Chivas Regal 18 bottles. The design showed how patience, precision, and craftsmanship are qualities that resonate deeply with art and extend to whisky-making. According to the sculptor, his design was a celebration of how time, when balanced with creativity and skill, leads to something truly brilliant—whether it’s a masterpiece of art or a blend as exceptional as Chivas 18. The showpiece was set off by clever and stylish design of the venue. The intimate space was transformed with blue lighting and jewel graphics, paying tribute to the newly restaged bottle. The theme of time and craftsmanship was woven into every detail for the evening’s activities, creating an immersive experience that reinforced the subliminal accent on the values of patience, precision, and artistry.

Sustainability

The River Within: The River Within is a new long-term programme between Chivas Brothers and The Deveron, Bogie and Isla Rivers Charitable Trust, Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Rivers Trust, and the Spey Catchment Initiative to help protect and restore some of Scotland’s iconic waterways. Fortunately, Scotland has an extended but irregular rainy season, allowing for natural replenishment of its ground water. In October, the sky is covered with heavy clouds, frequency of rains grows and the air smells damp. Frequent fogs and strong winds on coasts are common for the middle of the season. The last month of autumn brings snow and cold to highland regions. Meantime southern regions of Scotland are blown by raging storms. 

If the art of whisky is a delicate balance, so too is the Scottish landscape. Created over millennia, the landscapes and ecosystems called home form a deep, interconnected network of plants and vegetation, animals on land and below the water. Each plays its essential role, nurturing and sustaining the waterways on which all depend.

Just as people rely on the rivers, the rivers rely on them. Today climate change is disrupting the delicate balance of the terroir— changing when and where it rains and even the temperature of the waterways themselves. These changes threaten the rich diversity of life in and around the waters and burns of Scotland. They threaten the very future of whisky – from how much can be made to the flavour profile and how it could taste.

Whisky is legacy, to be crafted thinking about those who will enjoy it 10, 12, even 25 years from now. This is why Chivas Brothers is acting today to safeguard, protect and preserve the waters, banks and burns that give their whisky life.

Anyone who has enjoyed a dram of Scotch has the waters of Scotland within them. Raise a glass to the waters of Scotland, protecting whisky today and for generations to come.

Collaboration Ahead of Competition: Chivas Brothers have deployed highly efficient heat recovery technologies within the whisky distillation process, halving carbon emissions at Glentauchers distillery. their design process and implementation insights have been made ‘open source’, with the intention of putting collaboration ahead of competition on the road to net zero.

The heat recovery technologies, including Mechanical Vapour Recompression (MVR) and Thermo Vapour Recompression (TVR), are designed to capture and recycle heat generated in the distillation process that would otherwise go to waste. To date, these have reduced total energy consumption almost by half (48%) at Glentauchers distillery, near Keith in Speyside, Scotland, reducing the site’s total carbon emissions by 53% as a result.