Grand Cru Launch

The world’s most awarded single malt Scotch whisky brand, Glenfiddich’s foundations lay in innovation and a maverick spirit. Yet despite its extensive industry accolades and broad consumer awareness, the Glenfiddich brand has found it a challenge to permeate a culturally attuned audience in the highly competitive premium spirits category, the very target demographic it aimed to capture for the launch of its most premium pour yet, Glenfiddich's Grand Cru.

So when it came to launching Grand Cru: a 23 year-old vintage intended to be enjoyed with celebration in mind, Glenfiddich tasked us with designing an experiential activation encompassing product, collaboration, and talent: an experience unique to Glenfiddich that would resonate with Semi Permanent and Highsnobiety’s shared audience of cultural pioneers. Tastemakers who don’t just buy in to products, but invest in philosophies, and proliferate engaging ideas down to their friends and peers.

Within A Semi Permanent Hotel, Glenfiddich took over the Golden Age Bar with a Mavericks in Residence activation in which Australian artist Vicki Lee and floral sculptor Benjamin Avery of The Colourblind Florist created new, time-sensitive and site-specific works inspired by both the spirit and taste of Grand Cru, bringing the drink to life in wholly unexpected ways, transforming the space in to an evolving expression of creativity.

Benjamin, who goes by the moniker of The Colourblind Florist, can’t tell a rose’s red flower from its green stem. On entering the Mavericks In Residence experience, guests were greeted by Benjamin working in real time to create a landscape, which after two days turned the Golden Age into an immersive wonderland celebrating Grand Cru’s flavour profile.

Vicki, a lawyer-turned-experimental artist fuses paint and resin to create emotionally charged works. Taking to the mirrored stage in the Golden Age, Vicki’s performances accompanied by the sounds of cellist, Kenichi, redefined visual arts with works that were as much about creative process as they were the outcome.

Alongside a series of scheduled daytime performances that offered a glimpse into the artists’ creative processes, and hourly tastings of Grand Cru with curated toasts to the non-conformists and creative experimenters of our time led by Glenfiddich brand ambassador Ross Blainey, the Mavericks in Residence bar became the go-to destination at night, with guests sipping on bespoke Glenfiddich cocktails - including the aptly named Smoked Soda Lemonade, Cold Fashioned and Clever Club - within the intimate booths of the Golden Age Bar.