Staying true to the values of craftsmanship, innovation, and collective success, Chivas Regal proudly introduced to the world an unprecedented new spirit: the Chivas Regal Crystalgold. The crystal-clear spirit made its debut in Singapore last October, marking a bold step outside of the whisky domain while retaining the brand’s DNA.
Crafted by Master Blender Sandy Hyslop from a bespoke blend and refined through a pioneering filtration process, the Chivas Regal Crystalgold delivers remarkable smoothness and clarity with surprising flavour and depth. We sat down with the whisky veteran himself to learn more about the spirit’s inception, process, and significance for a heritage whisky distillery like Chivas Regal.
Chivas Regal has always been associated with whisky. With the Crystalgold, you’re introducing something brand new to the world. What does this innovation represent for the brand?
Sandy Hyslop (SH): What this innovation represents for the brand is that it shows our expertise in making amazing new products. The amount of credentials that we have already will give consumers confidence that this new Chivas Regal Crystalgold is going to have amazing flavour. And I think we’re desperate to surprise consumers by giving a clear spirit that has lots of depth and balance – something that is really groundbreaking.
What inspired the team to explore the idea of creating this clear spirit?
SH: I think probably drinking occasions, because consumers are drinking at different times. Now, they’re drinking in the early afternoon; they’re drinking much, much earlier in the day, and I think to have something like the Crystalgold, which has that versatility and flavour, is something that can really fit with that occasion.
What were the challenges that you faced in bringing the Chivas Regal Crystalgold to life?
SH: I would say that it was probably one of the most technically difficult challenges that I have ever done with my expert blending team. Working together to remove the colour from the product is the easy bit. Keeping the flavour with the colour removed is a completely different story. So, we had to design a process for the Chivas Regal Crystalgold that was different at every stage compared to what we would normally do when making whisky.
Tell me more about this pioneering process behind the Chivas Regal Crystalgold.
SH: We did a lot of experimentation that took us nearly three years. We’ve been working on tweaking all the different parts – it’s filtered at a different temperature; we process the whisky at a different flow rate; we use a bespoke filter, and the strength of the liquid that goes through the filter is different from anything we’ve done before.
Every single facet of the production process is bespoke to the Chivas Regal Crystalgold. You’re taking this golden, oak-aged spirit, and you are processing it in a way that is very, very different from Scotch whisky. It’s all about flavour retention. Even the bespoke base golden aged cask spirit was individually prepared to make the Chivas Regal Crystalgold.
Since Chivas Regal spirits are always a blend, can you share how many different spirits went into this blend?
SH: We have spent so long developing Chivas Regal Crystalgold, and there are so many things that come together to make it that all our hard work would be lost if we started telling everyone the details of exactly what we did. But to answer your question as best as I can, it has the quality, complexity, and array of different ingredients that you would expect from Chivas Regal. It has to be an aged spirit to get all that flavour to come through. Obviously, by law, the spirit needs to be aged more than three years, and the spirit we used was significantly older than that.
As a master blender who usually works with whisky, how difficult was it to create something that’s not a whisky?
SH: I think it’s been a long journey to get to where we are today. It’s been an exciting one and as a master blender, to be able to make something as groundbreaking as this with your team during your career is super exciting and thought-provoking. It makes you think of things differently, and we all found within the team that we really enjoyed the process, even though it was difficult.
There were many different things to adjust – it was a bit like tuning a racing car. There are all the different bits that you have to do to keep everything running correctly and it’s something that needs to be monitored carefully.
The Chivas Regal Crystalgold sits at the crossroad of whisky tradition and cocktail culture. How do you envision people enjoying this new expression?
SH: I think the fabulous thing is that we have created the Chivas Regal Crystalgold with lots of flavour. It has that real bright, clear crystal colour, but the flavour is incredibly sweet, smooth, balanced. I think it’s going to be amazing neat or with a big block of ice. I’m really fussy about my ice, so it’s got to be a big block of slow-melting ice. And as a cocktail base? Oh, yeah. The cocktail we’ve developed with Charles Leclerc – the Crystalgold Spritz – is just amazing.
If you had to describe the perfect moment to enjoy the Crystalgold, what would that look like?
SH: That would be mid-afternoon outside with friends. The amazing thing is that everyone can have Crystalgold as they like it and it’ll still be amazing. The versatility of its flavours is really going to shine through.
For curious whisky lovers, how would you compare this spirit to the others in the Chivas Regal range, like the 12 Year Old or XV?
SH: Good question. I think that everyone can expect the Chivas Regal Crystalgold to have that Chivas Regal DNA, with orchard fruits and pear flavours in there – but dialled to another level. It’s like sweet, ripe pear with red apple – sort of baked apple pie – and a dusting of cinnamon…but incredibly smooth and balanced.
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For more information about the Chivas Regal Crystalgold, visit the brand’s website. Stay up to date on local news at Chivas Regal FB Malaysia and @chivasregal.
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