Almost nine months after teaming up with Wu-Tang Clan frontman RZA, the brand owner has commenced the global rollout of Ballantine’s 7 American Barrel x RZA Limited Edition. The bottle, which will be “available while stocks last”, features the hip-hop group’s double-handed logo with printed lines of poetry written by RZA “during his time spent at the home of Ballantine’s in Scotland.
Previous releases from the marketing tie-up have included a record player and speaker, clothing and a sauce.
The blended malt, which after seven years of aging is finished for an unspecified period in American oak, carries an SRP in the UK of GBP37.95 (US$48).
In the latter six months of 2023, Ballantine’s posted an 8% year-on-year decline in sales by value, as the blended malt’s volumes in the period fell 11%. Over the same time period, rival Diageo’s flagship blended scotch, Johnnie Walker, came in down 5% in value terms on a 7% volumes decrease.
