Guests at last month’s official ATM party at The Address, Downtown Burj Dubai, were blown away by an unexpected taste partnership: fine whisky and luxury chocolate.
Chivas Regal 18-year-old whisky and a selection of Valrhona chocolates with dark, milk and white coatings were served to the party guests from a branded bar.
Valrhona distributor Chef Middle East’s product development manager, Bruce Woolner, elaborated: “The relationship between the two brands is a real understanding, as both products are marketed at the top end of their respective categories.”
MMI senior brand manager — marketing John Gillespie agreed that it was a natural pairing.
“Originally produced from beans from a single origin, Valrhona is famous today for picking the finest cocoa beans and blending them together to create a rich chocolate blend,” he noted.
“Similarly, Chivas 18 is a blend of many great whiskies hand selected by the master blender for extra richness, to create a luxurious and indulgent blend with a great wealth of characters.
“There are many similarities between the history, production and taste of both brands — not least that Chivas 18 has dark chocolate indulgent notes in it,” Gillespie continued.
“The richness of the Chivas Regal 18 blend is effectively evoked by comparisons with dark chocolate — its smoothness, richness and long-mouth feel can effectively be brought to life for consumers by using this comparison.
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“The aim of our partnership with Valrhona was to create an analogy; to demonstrate that the whole blend is greater than the sum of its individual parts,” he added.
“We wanted to bring to life the art of blending Chivas 18; tell people about the four key blends in the whisky; and discuss the rationale behind paring different whiskies in the Chivas 18 blend with different Valrhona chocolates.”
Chef Middle East’s Woolner said the response from party-goers had been positive, but noted: “There was some curiosity about matching a whisky with chocolate, which many had never thought of; but they were surprised by the results.”
Woolner added that the partnership had prompted “numerous requests” for the duo to appear at other events.
“However it’s important we evaluate the occasion or event [we take part in] to assess the type of clientele who will attend and the potential development of the product,” he said.
But with parties emphasising the success of the pairing, who knows — there may be more such appearances in future…
Watch this space, whisky and chocolate fans!
More information on these brands and their regional partners can be found at:
• www.mmidubai.com
• www.chivas.com
• www.chefmiddleeast.com
• www.valrhona.com
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