Latest Whisky News - Premium Whisky Brand Launched in Las Vegas - 11th April, 2011

The world’s most expensive bottle of whisky, a journey through Scottish arctic conditions and a genuine love of the spirit are the inspirations behind an innovative premium whisky brand, unveiled at a major event in Las Vegas. 

The Sirius Intrepid Whisky Purveyors brand, which is the brainchild of Mahesh Patel (Atlanta, Georgia), renowned whisky collector, was unleashed at his own event, the “Nth” Universal Whisky Experience – the world’s first luxury whisky enjoyment experience – held in the prestigious Wynn Resort in Las Vegas (18/19 March 2011).

International creative branding and design agency, threebrand, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, was behind the brand concept, including DNA, packaging design and support sales materials, as well as resources for the launch exhibition.

The Sirius range contains four whiskies, which are limited in stock due to the nature of the spirit; one exceptionally rare cask from the world famous malt distillers at The Dalmore, a hidden single malt gem from Fettercairn and two rare single grain whiskies. Mahesh’s view on grain varieties is that they are “misunderstood and wrongly ignored”. He feels they will become extremely rare and highly collectable over time.

Whisky enthusiast, owner of Sirius and CEO Universal Whisky Experience, Mahesh Patel, said:

“I started my search naturally in Scotland and have spent 10 years visiting key distilleries there - both malt and grain – to uncover the very best stocks that are ripe for bottling. My journey in 2010 to discover these liquid treasures happened in the worst early winter snowstorm the country had experienced in over 50 years. I traversed the country, through the arctic conditions, to reach a Highland distillery where I was presented with over 100 of its rarest whisky casks. 

“When sampling my whiskies, I focus particularly on mouth feel, texture and finish and use my trusted blindfold method. The key for me is the drinking experience, its enjoyment and its delivery, which is what led me to the single grains in particular. It was important for the Sirius brand to reflect all of this – from the DNA to packaging and support sales materials.”

The range was unveiled to a select audience of whisky connoisseurs, collectors and enthusiasts from the USA, who also took part in various events, including, whisky and cigar / chocolate pairing, whisky mixology and a new spirits tasting enhancement method.

Initial reactions to the range have been very positive, with strong word of mouth recommendations expected to boost sales initially, before an exclusive deal is confirmed with an online retailer.

On selecting Edinburgh-based threebrand to handle branding and design aspects, Mahesh continued:

“threebrand’s tremendous packaging expertise, first class premium spirits’ experience and the fact that the team was quick to understand, provoke, uncover and ‘get’ the brief, allied with a strong chemistry, confirmed there could only be one winner for the business. threebrand understood my passion for whisky and my desire to develop a super premium independent bottler business.”

Sirius is one of many clients outside of the UK on threebrand’s extensive portfolio, including Heineken USA, Proximo Spirits and Philips (Paris).

Nick Cadbury, Creative Director at threebrand, said:

“We were recommended to Mahesh through a current whisky client and immediately took to his idea, enthusiasm and approach. The brief was to create an innovative new premium whisky brand, which would challenge the usual independent whisky bottler genre.

“We provided a simple solution using black and white - one for malt, one for grain. The creation of brand name – which literally means the brightest star in the sky – and icon, was pivotal to capturing the lengths Mahesh was prepared to go to whilst looking for this rare liquid.

“The “Nth” Universal Whisky Experience was the perfect launch pad for Sirius and we’re confident that the exclusive range will be popular with whisky connoisseurs across the world.”

For more information on Sirius, visit www.siriuswhiskypurveyors.com or for the “Nth” Universal Whisky Experience, www.universalwhiskyexperience.com

For more information on threebrand, log on to www.threebrand.com.