William Grant & Sons has released details of a Europe-wide push for blended scotch Monkey Shoulder that spotlights ‘listening bars’.
The brand ‘platform’, Monkey Shoulder Selects, comprises a digital ‘city guide’ accessed through a dedicated page on the scotch brand’s website, alongside a social-media series spotlighting “some of Europe’s most exciting Hi-Fi bars, vinyl listening spaces, cocktail spots and creative neighbourhoods”. The initial list of cities featured includes Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Glasgow, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Reykjavik, Stockholm, Vienna and Zurich.
Throughout the campaign – the duration of which was not specified – featured bars will host DJ sets, bartender takeovers and playlist swaps. Monkey Shoulder Selects is promoting ‘Selector Swaps’, described as “a cross-market cultural exchange” that will see DJs and bartenders travel between cities to take over each other’s venues.
Featured venues have also created “localised” twists on the Old Fashioned serve, using Monkey Shoulder as the base spirit. These include the Beeswax Old Fashioned, created by bartenders at the Seed Library in London (top), Banana-infused Old Fashioned at O Bom, O Mau e O Vilao in Lisbon (below), Old Fashioned Prebatch by Bird Uptown / Bird Downtown in Copenhagen and Breakfast on the Rocks by Okupa Kitchen & Listening Bar in Athens.
Global Monkey Shoulder ambassador Joe Petch said: “Monkey Shoulder Selects is about recognising that some of the most exciting cultural spaces in Europe now are bars built around music.
“These venues aren’t just places to drink; they’re places to listen, connect and belong. Monkey Shoulder Selects is our way of supporting the people and communities shaping this new era of nightlife.”
The marketing campaign follows a similar music-led activation for the Monkey Shoulder mark in the UK last year. The pop-up ‘Monkey Shoulder Records’ bar and shop was opened in June at KEF Music Gallery in London, featuring DJ’s and cocktails.
