I recently had a chance to pick Danny Dyer's, Grant's Global Brand Ambassador, brain on why he's passionate about whisky and the reason behind re-branding the Grant's bottle to feature their Triple Wood maturation method that makes their whisky stand out from the rest.
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KenyaBuzz: How was it like travelling the world in 10 days for the Grant's Global Brand Ambassador interview?
Danny Dyer: When I got to the final three out of 5,000 applicants, they told each of us that we we were to go to three countries in 10 days. I was to go to Russia, Taiwan and Australia. The reason they did it was to re-enact Charles Grant journey where he travelled the world taking his whisky to different people and it was amazing.
Russians have a steely demeanor but once you break that icy layer, they were really nice people. Going from Russia to Taiwan was like chalk and cheese. They were so animated and it was a huge culture shock to me. That was where we started the food pairings. They love their spicy food and it went well with Grant's. In Australia, it was a very chill place.
KenyaBuzz: What's your favourite thing to pair with Grant's?
Danny Dyer: I like to pair it with cheese or dark chocolate.
KenyaBuzz: Favourite cocktail?
Danny Dyer: A Grant's old fashioned. It lets me taste the most of the whisky because it uses simple ingredients. Just a bit of sugar and ice and an orange slice.
KenyaBuzz: How did you get started in the alcohol business?
Danny Dyer: When I started, I had a very bad experience with whisky because the first time I drank it, I had a nasty hangover and I never wanted to drink anything like that again. Fast forward two years and I needed a job. I applied to a brewery and the person who got me into whisky was a man called Dennis and he was passionate about it.
He sat with me for an hour with a glass of whisky and took me through it's entire history and it was fascinating to me how all those character could be in one glass. When I took a sip, with the new knowledge that I had, I started to enjoy it and I have enjoyed it since then.
KenyaBuzz: What is the best way to drink whisky?
Danny Dyer: Your way.
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KenyaBuzz: What's it about Grant's that makes it different from other scotch whiskys?
Danny Dyer: We are the number 3 scotch whisky in the world and we didn't get there by chance. It takes years of hard work. The reason we are changing the bottle and re-branding from Grant's Family Reserve to Grant's Triple Wood is because of the amount of work we put into this whisky. This Triple Wood is the three types of barrels that we mature our whisky in. The first on is what we call virgin oak and that is basically a cask that has never been used before. That gives you a very dark red colour and it gives it a very tannic and spicy flavour.
The second cask is what we call re-filled bourbon. When they make a bourbon in America, they use virgin oak and by law, they are not allowed to use the same cask. We buy those casks and put our whisky in it. It gives it a brown sugary sweet flavour from the bourbon that was there before. Spice on the first cask, sweetness on the second one. The third cask is what we call an American oak cask which had whisky and when those layers act on the whisky, and you get a real light vanilla flavour and that's what ties everything together.

About The Author

Author
Alix Grubel

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