Crafting Spirits on the Molecular Level

Having made whisky for more than 40 years, Sandy Hyslop has accrued an extraordinary amount of knowledge. But to create his latest blend – the most innovative of his career – the Scotsman found himself relying on a previously dormant part of his education: his chemistry degree.

To make Chivas Regal Crystalgold, a groundbreaking clear spirit that doesn’t look like whisky and yet has all its traditional flavours and aromas, Hyslop and his team had to forget what they already knew and start with a blank page.

“There is not one single facet in the production process of Crystalgold that is the same as traditional Scotch whisky,” he tells Dazed MENA at the global launch in Singapore. “Florates, temperatures, filters… I had to think about how the flavour molecules will carry through the filter and what will happen to them when the temperature changes. It’s the most I’ve ever used my chemistry background in my career.”

Inevitably, when experimenting with such a complex and capricious liquid as whisky in this new uncharted formula, mistakes were made. “I’m not saying the process was smooth,” he says with a wry smile. “My blending team and my technical team worked closely together, there were so many moving parts. It was a huge learning curve for us.”

Aimed at a younger market turned off by the bold flavours of traditional whisky, Crystalgold is a more approachable drink that chimes with “changing flavour trends,” says Hyslop. With notes of red apple, clove, cinnamon and vanilla, the smooth spirit is tailor made for cocktails. Its most striking feature is its transparency.

“Making it clear was easy actually, you just put it through a filter,” explains Hyslop. “However, the really clever bit is to get the flavour to come through with it, because if you put it through a filter too strongly or at the wrong temperature, it will remove the flavour along with the colour molecules.”

Crystalgold was launched with the help of Chivas Regal global ambassador and Ferrari Formula One driver Charles Leclerc. The stylish 27-year-old who loves to play chess and the piano when he’s not behind the wheel, is symbolic of the drink’s youthful lifestyle brand positioning. “He came to visit our distillery in Strathisla [in the Scottish Highlands] and he was so inquisitive,” says Hyslop. “It was a great weekend because I love the detail and the intricacy, too. I drive my team crazy with the detail.”