Crystal clear confidence
Chivas Regal has launched Crystalgold, a radical new clear spirit drink designed to taste like a classic Scotch while offering the mixability of a white spirit, writes Tom Pattinson
A secret door pushes open and I creep into the inner chamber of a high-end London hotel. Inside is a candlelit room with plush furnishings and heavy velvet curtains. Coats are checked, and a gold silk blindfold is handed to me. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a party like this.
A small group of us are now sat around a table but still in the dark, quite literally, as to why we are here. The boudoir atmosphere, the hush of anticipation, the faint rustle of fabric, the sense that anything could happen as the lights are dimmed.
The invite from Chivas Brothers was cryptic but had done its job in bringing together a dozen drinkers to discover something we’d not experienced before. Blindfolds on, we are poured two drams and asked to nose and savour the first.
The nose is sweet, like warm apple pie with a dusting of cinnamon. The sip that followed is golden syrupy. Toffy apple and juicy autumn pears. I picture the familiar amber liquid of Chivas Regal 12, a whisky I’ve shared with friends in bars from Beijing to Bedford.
When the blindfold comes off, however, I notice the liquid in front of me isn’t the rich golden whisky colour we know from Chivas. It is clear. Sparklingly, disarmingly clear.
This is Chivas Regal Crystalgold – a clear spirit that looks like vodka but tastes like whisky.
Crystalgold is no cheap parlour trick. It’s the result of years of experimentation in the blending labs of Chivas Brothers, under the careful eye (and nose) of Master Blender Sandy Hyslop. The breakthrough lies in a bespoke filtration process – one that removes the colour from fully matured, American oak-aged whisky while keeping its flavour intact. Think of it as reverse alchemy: instead of turning base metals into gold, Chivas has turned golden liquid into crystal clarity without sacrificing depth of character.
“If you could combine the heritage and flavour profile of whisky with the mixability of white spirits – bingo – you’ve got everything in one product”
Hyslop explains it took three years of trial and error to achieve this balance, a process of precision: temperature controlled, flow rates measured to the millilitre, countless trials to get it right.
“Every single processing parameter to make Crystalgold is different to Chivas,” Hyslop says. “Whether it be the filter medium, the temperature, the flow rates, the strength as it goes through the filter. We managed to change each parameter to get the maximum flavour retention,” he explained with obvious excitment. “It is the easiest thing in the world to make a clear spirit. But to make a clear spirit with the proper flavour retention takes a lot of work, a lot of experimentation.”
There was also the matter of classification. “The SWA said that because it was Scotch whisky at its base but had gone through this specialist filtration, it didn’t fit into any existing category,” Hyslop explains. “There is no category for a spirit that has been filtered clear. So they insisted we add a tiny amount – under 0.1% – of new distillate, which then allows it to be called a spirit drink.”
The outcome? A clear spirit that is unmistakably Chivas in taste but unexpectedly transparent in the glass. On the nose, Crystalgold gives off the warmth of vanilla fudge and buttery pastry, lifted by orange zest. The palate is crunchy hobnobs fused with vanilla from American oak barrels. followed by ginger and cinnamon. The finish is exceptionally smooth.
What makes it exciting is the combination of whisky-like flavour with the mixability of a clear spirit. It feels rich enough for a slow dram by the fire, yet it slots neatly into a spritz, highball or even a champagne-topped cocktail without overpowering the other ingredients.
“We wanted to surprise everybody,” says Hyslop, pacing the room, topping up glasses. “We wanted everybody to see a crystal-clear spirit and then taste it and go, oh my God, that’s got tons of flavour and really buck the trend.”
Nick Blacknell, Global Marketing Director of Chivas Regal, describes the target audience as the hybrid drinker. “What I really mean by that is that they’re category fluid. They drink a bit of tequila, they drink a bit of gin, they drink a bit of Scotch. They’re not particularly category loyal,” he tells me. In other words, Crystalgold is aimed at a generation that doesn’t care what shelf their bottle belongs on, as long as it works in a cocktail and looks good in a glass.
Three eco pioneers who are reshaping the way whisky is made
The bottle itself leans into that luxury positioning. Revealed with a flamboyant flourish of a gold cloth, it comes in a tall, elegant vessel of clear glass that mirrors the spirit’s transparency. Instead of amber tones, the liquid shines like liquid diamond inside. Gold accents pick out the label and neck, ensuring that while the contents may look vodka-like, the bottle still screams whisky heritage. On a backbar, it glints like jewellery.
But beneath the design lies a bigger cultural shift. Whisky has long been associated with neat pours and late-night contemplation, but drinking habits are changing.
“People aren’t going out as late, people are drinking earlier in the day, they’re looking for lighter spirits,” says Blacknell. “The rise of the spritz, the rise of the tequila-style, citrus-driven drink. It’s something in the industry as dark spirit producers, we can’t ignore.
“What we’re hoping is to shift the Chivas Regal moment to much earlier in the evening. Go lighter, longer, fresher.”
Blacknell is frank about the challenge: “If you look at Gen Z habits, they are more and more drinking a spirit, a mixer, a spirit-cocktail, rather than a beer.”
Still, the question lingers: will Crystalgold find its footing, or will it fall between the cracks? The risk, Blacknell admitted, is real. It could alienate whisky traditionalists, while failing to resonate with younger mixed-drink fans who already have their go-to clear spirits.
Chivas Crystalgold: aiming to reach a new audience of spirits drinkers
“This could have done a ton of reputational damage to Chivas if you’d done it badly,” Blacknell says. “People have been trying to crack clear whisky for a long, long time. If you could combine the heritage and flavour profile of whisky with the mixability of white spirits – bingo – you’ve got everything in one product.”
To reinforce the message that this is more than a gimmick, Chivas has partnered with Formula 1 star Charles Leclerc, who is both fronting the global campaign and co-creating cocktails. His Crystalgold Spritz – a mix of Chivas Crystalgold, elderflower, lime and champagne – is designed for those lighter, early-evening moments where whisky has traditionally been absent. The official launch is timed to coincide with the Singapore Grand Prix, another nod to the brand’s global ambitions.
Back in that candlelit room, as I looked again at the clear spirit in my glass, I couldn’t help but be impressed with the vision and ambition of Chivas. In a market where so many are trying to reach a new, younger audience but are only willing to tweak packaging or hire an ‘alternative’ brand ambassador, Chivas has really jumped in with both feet.
It’s a high-stakes risk – a lot of money has clearly gone into its development – but Chivas Regal Crystalgold might just be whisky’s answer to the riddle of how to make something so traditional feel so new.
