True Music Series limited edition gift packaging for Ballantine’s Finest and Ballantine’s 12 Year Old

Ballantine’s whisky has announced Felipe Pantone as the latest True Music Series collaborator following previous partnerships with beatboxer, Reeps One and graphic designers Leif Podhajsky and Dave Ma.

At the cutting edge of street art, Felipe Pantone is an Argentinian-Spanish visual and kinetic artist whose work fuses bold graphics, strong contrasts and vivid colours with mixed typography to create ultra-modern art that often brings music to life.

His work to date has adorned iconic music spaces around the globe including Ushuaia Ibiza Beach Hotel and the Life is Beautiful Music Festival in Las Vegas, as well as featuring in a music video for Anderson Paak and on album artwork for The Stroke’s Julian Casablancas. His latest pieces for Ballantine’s have been inspired by underground club culture, the recording and production process, and music soundwaves.

Featuring his distinctive geometric patterns, vivid colours, holograms and optical art, Felipe has created three inspiring artworks which form this year’s True Music Series limited edition gift packaging for Ballantine’s Finest and Ballantine’s 12 Year Old, which will be available around the world from September.

The True Music Series will take Felipe’s artwork across the globe – from Moscow to Johannesburg via Santiago – to transform a range of different music spaces with the distinctive geometric patterns, vibrant flavour and optical art that form his Ballantine’s limited-edition designs. Felipe’s artwork will connect to sound reactive projectors in each space, creating its own equaliser and allowing musicians to experience a visual representation of the music they produce and play within the space, ensuring a performance experience like no other for music fans.

Felipe Pantone is an Argentinian-Spanish visual and kinetic artist

I’ve always been surrounded by musicians and collaborating with Ballantine’s – a whisky brand that’s all about music – allowed me to explore a style marked by sound waves and flowing bits, juxtaposed with my signature elements.

It’s always a pleasure to work around music artists, the spaces and the fans.
– Felipe Pantone

There are a few artists who are really making waves internationally while creating forward-thinking and truly striking art, and Felipe is definitely one of them. With a passion and affinity for music as well as art, Felipe was an obvious choice for us and we couldn’t be happier with the bold and futuristic gift packs he has produced.

But the limited-edition packaging is only the beginning; we have some really exciting plans to bring Felipe’s artwork to life in some of the coolest music communities around the world, including Gost Zvuk in Russia, Primavera Fauna in Chile and with Kid Fonque in South Africa – it’s going to be epic.
– Tom Elton: Head of Music at Ballantine’s

The Ballantine’s True Music Series is an annual project that gives uncompromising artists a unique platform to share and visualise music and music scenes that inspire artists and fans worldwide. The latest limited-edition gift packs created by Felipe Pantone will be available globally from September 2018. Find out more.

Video: Ballantine’s True Music Series x Felipe Pantone

Ballantine’s is available to buy from these Whisky Merchants:-

• Master of Malt
• The Whisky Exchange
• Edencroft Fine Wine & Spirit Specialists
• Abbey Whisky
• The Whisky Barrel
• The Green Welly Stop
• Whisky Online

Three Limited Edition Gift Packs Designed by Music Video Director and Photographer, Dave Ma

Ballantine’s has partnered with renowned music video director and photographer, Dave Ma, to launch three new limited e dition gift packs for 2016. Created to champion inspiring and innovative individuals who are committed to expressing their creativity in unique ways, for its second year Ballantine’s Artist Series gift packs showcase Dave Ma’s unique perspective of Scotland, the home of the whisky, in a series of stunning aerial photographs.

The 2016 Ballantine’s Artist Series Limited Edition gift packs will be available globally from October 2016.

Moving to London from the beaches of Sydney a decade ago to pursue a career in music photography and video direction, Dave Ma started a ‘zine’ to showcase his work with emerging bands. Dave has worked with some of today’s most exciting music artists, including Bastille and Rudimental, however his repertoire extends well beyond music photography, with a newly discovered passion for capturing aerial landscape photographs.

Travelling around the world, Dave began to realise that the best TV screen was his aeroplane window . This kick-started a desire to shoot aerial views whilst flying, and, after realising that by playing with the colours in his shots he could make terrains look ‘otherworldly’, his first series of aerial landscapes were featured on the Jagwar Ma single artwork for Come Save Me.

To push his landscape images of the Scottish Highlands beyond realism, Dave reworked his striking photographs for the Ballantine’s Finest Sleeve and Tin with a bold two-tone colour palette to reflect the energy and youthful personality of the Finest blend. For the first time, tactile technology has been used on the Ballantine’s Finest Sleeve to reflect the look and feel of the rugged terrain of this corner of Scotland. For the Ballantine’s 12 Year Old Tin, Dave added depth to his stunning photograph with a rich blue colour palette to reflect the complexity of flavours in this distinguished 12 year old blend.

I was ultimately drawn to working with Ballantine’s for the excitement of doing something completely different, that would still represent my artistic style. It was awe-inspiring to see that part of Scotland, and to be able to shoot a really unique perspective of that landscape. My focus was to capture the natural beauty of the terrain, but I wanted to move the images away from the all-too-familiar green landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and give each gift pack its own distinctive look, which reflected the personalities of each of the blends.
– Dave Ma: music video director and photographer

The Ballantine’s Artist Series champions unique individuals that ‘stay true’ to their creative style and Dave Ma is no exception. He captured the beauty of our Scottish heritage, resulting in these striking gift packs that will no doubt be a great addition to any whisky connoisseurs’ collection and complement last year’s designs as part of the Ballantine’s Artist Series collection.
– Sophie Gallois: Global Marketing Director for Ballantine’s

The 2016 Ballantine’s Artist Series Limited Edition gift packs will be available globally from October 2016.

Call the Shots, the world’s first interactive golf instructional video.

Ballantine’s has unveiled its innovative ‘Call the Shots’ film series featuring 2014 Ryder Cup-winning captain, Paul McGinley –reinforcing Ballantine’s original approach to engaging with appreciators of golf and fine Scotch whisky around the world.

Hosted on the Ballantine’s Golf Club website, Call the Shots represents a world-first for real world gamified golf content. The concept allows viewers to control the shot selection of Ballantine’s Golf Club Captain Paul McGinley from tee to green through a gamified learning experience. The interactive video series is designed to test users’ course management abilities by only allowing players to shoot the lowest score possible if they make the right call for every stroke.

Filmed on the Dirleton Links course at Archerfield Links Golf Club in Scotland, the films are part of a series of innovative content available at the Ballantine’s Golf Club. The series features the opportunity to direct McGinley through a full par 5 as well as taking on a par 3 and 4, mirroring the typical challenges a golfer is likely to encounter on the course. In addition, the Ballantine’s Golf Club is offering one member and a friend the opportunity to test their course management for real by winning a round with Paul McGinley at one of the most iconic golf courses in the UK.

Call the Shots is a fantastic concept that continues golf’s evolution in the digital world. The film is designed to help golfers understand the importance of course management in an innovative and engaging way, in line with the overall approach of the Ballantine’s Golf Club. Good luck, and try and stay out of the water!
– Paul McGinley: Ballantine’s Golf Club Captain and Ryder Cup legend

As pioneers of the digital revolution in golf, we are very proud to launch our Call the Shots series with our Club Captain Paul McGinley. As the world’s first online golf club, we are committed to providing our members with engaging and exclusive content in an innovative way they won’t find anywhere else. Call the Shots represents exactly what our modern Club has been built on, by taking the traditional elements of golf to the next level.
– Peter Moore: Global Brand Director for Prestige Brands at Chivas Brothers

The Ballantine’s Golf Club is the world’s first online golf club, a place where members can join a global community of passionate enthusiasts and access unique online content. The Club lives both on and offline, is free to join and offers associates a series of prizes, content and the exclusive members’ only tournament, the Ballantine’s International Cup.

Ballantine’s Hard Fired!

Ballantine’s has launched Ballantine’s Hard Fired, an innovative expression that introduces a bespoke process in the production of Scotch whisky and provides a unique experience within the Ballantine’s family. Ballantine’s Hard Fired is set to appeal to whisky drinkers seeking authenticity and craftsmanship in new Scotch styles.

Judging the char length and intensity by sight

The taste profile of Ballantine’s Hard Fired whisky has been developed through the transformative power of fire. The signature hard firing of the barrels unlocks vanilla notes, hints of smoke and spice and provides a distinctive smoothness, resulting in a characterful and uniquely balanced whisky.

Ballantine’s Hard Fired’s bespoke process starts with the individual selection of American oak barrels by the wood management team. The barrels are then sent to highly skilled craftsmen at the cooperage to char them for a second time – a process known as ‘hard firing’ – while judging the char length and intensity by sight. Finally, Ballantine’s Master Blender Sandy Hyslop noses each barrel and selects those best to be filled with a unique Ballantine’s blend for resting.

Ballantine’s Hard Fired showcases the natural and unique results that American oak and fire produce on Scotch whisky. When charred, casks form a natural layer of caramelised wood sugars that react with whisky and a double char understandably intensifies this effect.

The result is a smooth, creamy and subtly smoky Scotch whisky with tasting notes of sweet honey, soft red apples and tangy liquorice. This balanced flavour profile results in a premium whisky that sits well within the Ballantine’s family style while offering something new.
– Sandy Hyslop: Ballantine’s Master Blender

Ballantine’s Hard Fired is set to appeal to whisky drinkers seeking authenticity and craftsmanship

Ballantine’s Hard Fired is a natural progression for the brand as we continue to innovate within the Scotch whisky category. The double charring naturally unlocks flavour, creating a whisky that stays true to our philosophy of craftsmanship, authenticity and outstanding flavour.

Ballantine’s Hard Fired is a modern, masculine expression that responds to current trends in the whisky market that demand new experiences while enjoying Scotch whisky.
– Peter Moore: Ballantine’s Global Brand Director

Ballantine’s Hard Fired has a 40% ABV and will be available from November onwards in Poland and France before rolling out globally in March 2016.

Nose: Sweet ripe fruits of pears and blackcurrants, vanilla, butterscotch toffee and a gentle wisp of bonfire smoke.
Taste: Sweet honey, soft red apples, a hint of tangy liquorice and gentle smoke.
Finish: Long vanilla finish that is both sweet and slightly tangy.

Ballantine’s 21 Year Old Signature Oak

Ballantine’s has unveiled Ballantine’s 21 Year Old Signature Oak Edition – European Oak, the first of two new limited editions exclusive to Global Travel Retail. The release of an additional Signature Edition created with American oak will follow to complete the special pair of bottlings, making each a collector’s item for whisky enthusiasts.

Bottle and Presentation Box

The Signature Oak Edition – European Oak has been skilfully crafted by Ballantine’s Master Blender Sandy Hyslop and showcases the characteristics and flavours that European oak contributes to the original 21 Year Old blend.

Ensuring this newest expression stays true to the award-winning taste profile of Ballantine’s 21 Year Old, selected whiskies have been matured in quality sherry casks of European oak. Larger than American oak casks, these vessels help to deliver a unique flavour due to their effect on the ageing process.

I nose each and every cask to ensure a balance between the liquid and the wood, something George Ballantine – a pioneer in the art of maturing whisky in quality casks – would have approved of. With the Ballantine’s 21 Year Old Signature Oak Editions, I wanted to pay tribute to our founder and release expressions that demonstrate to consumers how cask maturation and oak influence transform our whisky.

Providing a rich taste profile, the European oak has enhanced the notes of raisin, fruitcake, sherry and spice within the 21 Year Old blend so I am certain that it will become a must-have addition to the cabinet of selective whisky collectors.
– Sandy Hyslop: Ballantine’s Master Blender

The Signature Oak Editions will engage consumers with an interesting journey across different types of cask maturation. Supporting the launch of the Ballantine’s 21 Year Old Signature Oak Edition – European Oak, our Global Travel Retail displays will highlight different elements that consumers can relate to. We will focus on colour, taste and smell to showcase how European oak casks produce a very specific effect on our selected malts, enhancing the quality and personality of our whisky.

Consumers purchasing through Global Travel Retail are looking for innovation and uniqueness beyond what they can buy in domestic markets. I’m confident that Ballantine’s fans and whisky connoisseurs alike will enjoy the Ballantine’s 21 Year Old Signature Oak Edition – European Oak and look forward to our next launch to complete this special collectors’ set.
– Peter Moore: Global Brand Director for Ballantine’s

Available in Global Travel Retail, the Ballantine’s 21 Year Old Signature Oak Edition – European Oak is bottled at 40% ABV. The release of the Signature Oak Editions builds on the success of the Ballantine’s 17 Year Old Signature Distillery Editions, launched in 2012, which paid tribute to four key signature malts in the 17 Year Old blend and the distilleries that produce them.

Ballantine’s Unveils New Bottle For Its 12 Year Old Expression!

Ballantine’s has unveiled an elegant new bottle for its 12 Year Old expression. Rolling out globally from this month, the design evolution demonstrates the quality and super premium cues of Ballantine’s 12 Year Old to appeal to modern whisky enthusiasts.

Ballantine’s 12 Year Old
New Packaging

Following the re-packaging of Ballantine’s Finest in 2013, the brand took inspiration from this to develop a confident new look for its 12 Year Old expression. The designs reinforce the close link between the two expressions while highlighting the natural step between them, as discerning drinkers seek to enter and explore the super premium whisky category with Ballantine’s 12 Year Old.

The new packaging adopts the chevron-shaped label of Ballantine’s Finest, creating a more refined, masculine and eye-catching look on-shelf. The navy colour scheme and the greater prominence of the numeral 12 both emphasize the super premium quality of the 12 Year Old, while the re-positioning of the brand’s crest – the Ballantine’s Grant of Arms – and the Ballantine’s ‘B’ help to create a more modern aesthetic.

Thanks to its perfectly balanced taste profile, Ballantine’s 12 Year Old has become an award-winning blend with outstanding quality credentials. We are delighted to present a new elegant, super premium pack for the bottle that stays true to the pioneering values of our founder George Ballantine in his relentless pursuit of quality.

We’re confident that the new design, which is now in line with Ballantine’s Finest, will encourage consumers to trade up to Ballantine’s 12 Year Old for special occasions as they start their journey through the super premium whisky category.
– Peter Moore: Ballantine’s Global Brand director

The new Ballantine’s 12 Year Old bottle has been successfully received through consumer research and will be available globally.

“To boldly go where no whisky has gone before …”

Ballantine’s has created the Ballantine’s Space Glass and a Special Batch of Ballantine’s Space Whisky designed for a zero gravity environment as the brand continues to innovate, making a genuine contribution to the space programme.

As part of a bold campaign to appeal to the next generation of whisky drinkers, Ballantine’s has commissioned the Open Space Agency, a collective of astropreneurs, to design the Space Glass and overcome the challenge of drinking whisky in a zero gravity environment. The Space Glass was rigorously tested at the ZARM Zero-G Drop Tower in Bremen, Germany, to prove its functionality in conditions similar to that of space.

Space Glass – Exploded

To complete the launch, Master Blender Sandy Hyslop has created a special batch of Ballantine’s Space Whisky, a blend that seeks to ‘Stay True’ to the Ballantine’s whisky style while enhancing the signature flavour profile. Ballantine’s Space Whisky has been crafted by introducing first fill sherry matured malt to a bespoke Ballantine’s blend with the intention of addressing the impact that microgravity has on taste-buds, resulting in a more concentrated whisky with enhanced spice and honey notes.

The Ballantine’s Space Glass is built around the whisky drinking experience. The warming element from hand to glass is important to me because the whisky warms up while you are drinking it, unlocking aromas that ensure a multi-sensory experience. It’s fantastic that this has been achieved, so Ballantine’s inaugural space blend has a fitting vessel specifically built for zero gravity.

In space you are unable to pick up on the same smell and taste intensity as on earth. That was my key consideration when designing Ballantine’s Space Whisky. I had to make the blend more robust, heightened in flavour, and more concentrated so one could emulate the experience of drinking Ballantine’s on earth. Astronauts miss the taste of home and by crafting a fruitier, stronger, more floral blend I think Ballantine’s has designed a home comfort for space.
– Sandy Hyslop: Master Blender

Our brief was to develop a whisky glass that worked under the conditions of microgravity, the scientific term for zero gravity. It was important that we focused on creating a ritual around how you drink from the Ballantine’s Space Glass to give a familiarity of what we are used to here on earth – the end result is one that incorporates several elements of that ritual, from the liquid entering the glass through to sipping from it.
– James Parr: founder of the Open Space Agency

We believe that when individuals stay true to themselves they leave their mark on this planet. As Ballantine’s drinkers have re-invented the world all around us, we’ve been right there with them. We are delighted to be the first whisky brand to support astropreneurship with the development of the Ballantine’s Space Glass and the Special Batch of Ballantine’s Space Whisky. Not only is the glass innovative – solving fundamental scientific questions of how liquid moves in zero gravity – but it is also beautifully designed, with the ritual of the whisky drinking experience at its heart.
– Peter Moore: Ballantine’s Global Brand Director

Ballantine’s will be publishing articles, photography, imagery, audio, illustrations and GIFs throughout the project. Consumers are invited to follow the journey at ballantinesspaceglass.com

“One small sip for man …”

Ballantine’s Space Glass Product Information: How it works

In order to get the whisky from bottle to glass there is a loading mechanism which inserts a nozzle into the base of the glass. Held together by a strong magnetic connection the base of the glass releases a quick draw down allowing the slow release of the whisky into the base of the glass through a one-way valve.

There is a cold touch mouth clip, ergonomically shaped to give the user a quality drinking experience on the top of the glass. To capture the ritual of drinking whisky you rest your lips here, while hidden ‘scent slots’ let you smell the blend. The capillary design needs a spiral CNC machined rose gold plated dome base to provide the surface tension angle to feed the whisky into the capillaries. The base encourages the user to hold the glass and contains a magnet for practical Zero-G applications while in space, e.g. sticking the glass to the side of a space ship. The 2mm capillary dimension in the glass supplies a good amount of whisky while retaining good surface tension for ease of suction.

Tasting notes for the Special Batch Ballantine’s Space Whisky

Nose: Notes of sweet honey and creamy vanilla intermingled with fragrant clementine oranges, old fashioned barley sugar sweets with a hint of liquorice spice.
Taste: Fills the mouth with Honey flavours echoing the nose, crunchy sweet toffee apple and soft cinnamon Edinburgh rock sweets. Rich and complex.
Finish: Balanced sweet and incredibly smooth.

The Ballantines Insta-zine

Ballantine’s has launched the world’s first digital whisky magazine hosted exclusively on Instagram.

Adapting traditional magazine publishing for the social media platform, the Ballantine’s Insta-zine has been specially created to appeal to modern whisky drinkers, design and tech enthusiasts, and pop-culture fans.

The Ballantine’s Insta-zine is accessible from the @Ballantines_Official Instagram account.

Users land on the Insta-zine’s contents page – a mosaic-style grid of Instagram posts – from where they can navigate between articles published on @W_IssueONE by tapping on individual image posts.

The smart functionality and creative use of the social media platform demonstrates Ballantine’s commitment to staying true to its values of innovation and leadership since it was created 180 years ago by George Ballantine.

The Ballantine’s Insta-zine explores the current whisky zeitgeist and is comprised of three articles: The Women Shaping Whisky, The Rise of Bitter Drinks, and Did the Sims Introduce Mixology to the Masses?

In the first, Ballantine’s interviews three women changing the face of modern whisky, while The Rise of Bitter Drinks visually explores cocktails with a bitter taste profile and features some of Ballantine’s own signature serves.
The third article delves into the surprising link between mixology and the popular Sims game, exploring whether the craft of bartending has influenced the way consumers drink cocktails today.

Ballantine’s has become renowned for its dynamic and engaging marketing initiatives and we are very excited to add the Ballantine’s Insta-zine to our list of innovations.

We are confident that the concept and the content of the Ballantine’s Insta-zine will excite whisky, design and pop-culture enthusiasts alike as we continue to bring the proud heritage of our whisky into a dynamic digital future.
– Peter Moore: Ballantine’s Global Brand Director

Follow @Ballantines_Official on Instagram to read the full Insta-zine today.