Whisky Ambassadors from across the world have once again collaborated to raise awareness and funds for Scottish drinks industry charity the Ben. The second annual online auction will be hosted by Whisky.Auction (https:/whisky.auction.) between the 18th -27th of August 2019.
Once again The Ambassadors’ collection is full of rare and special whisky bottles donated by a range of whisky companies. Amongst them a bottle of 43 Year Old Ladyburn, matured in a single cask (bottle number 4 of 60) and bottled at cask strength by independent bottler Blackadder. Also in the auction is a Mystery Bottle of Malt Whisky donated by The Whisky Exchange.
The money raised will be donated to The Ben, a charity that supports people of all ages who have worked in the licensed trade for at least three years full-time with beneficiaries receiving annual financial assistance as well as discretionary grants for emergency situations. As well as financial support, the charity also operates the picturesque BEN Pitlochry Estate on the banks of the River Tay, consisting of 18 bungalows which are rented at subsidised rates for eligible residents.
Last year, Andy Bell, International Sales Manager for Isle of Arran Distillers, and Craig Johnstone, Former Business Development Manager for Brown Forman, came up with the idea of asking industry friends to donate a bottle from each of their distilleries. If they had enough interest they would put a charity auction together.
From this discussion over a dram, The Ambassadors’ Collection was born. To say they had no idea what to expect would be an understatement. Andy and Craig knew that the industry would rise to the occasion, and would have been delighted with a random lot of signed bottles that would be auctioned off as a unique collection. They were blown away by the level of lot on offer.
Co-Founder Andy Bell said, “The way that everyone heard the call-to-arms and collaborated on this, from managing directors and master blenders to sales people and ambassadors really highlighted the cooperative nature of the Scotch Whisky industry at large. We realised that as well as raising cash for a good cause, auctioning The Ambassadors’ Collection would allow us to show our collaborative nature to the world.”
In August of 2018 the first ever Ambassadors’ Collection auction went live and raised over £10,000 which was donated to The Ben.
Chris Gardner, Chief Executive at The Ben, said, “We really appreciated all the hard work and donations from everyone involved in the Ambassadors’ Collection auction last year. We were so surprised and delighted with the wonderful result of £10,150. The funds helped our 150 trade beneficiaries throughout Scotland and our new mental health campaign and roadshows which we will be rolling out throughout the country in the coming months. A little effort by a lot of people brought us a fantastic result, thank you all once again.”
