Submitted by Richmond & Towers Communications

Raising the Bar: How The Dalmore Luminary No.2 Became a Global Sensation

Richmond & Towers built a V&A Dundee press trip around The Dalmore Luminary No.2 for Whyte & Mackay, reporting over 500 articles, reaching 191 million readers.

Over 500 articles, reaching 191 million readerspress articles
Over 500 articles, reaching 191 million readersreadership reach
107 social media posts from influential figuressocial media posts from influential figures

Case in 60 seconds

Richmond & Towers was set the job of amplifying the launch of The Dalmore Luminary No.2 across luxury, consumer and trade media, positioning a Highland distillery as a peak of both whisky craft and artistic design.

The campaign appears to turn on the reading that storytelling and visual presence decide what gets published in the luxury market, so media needed an exclusive and engaging experience rather than a release about a bottle.

The organizing thesis was the luminaries themselves, joining The Dalmore's heritage to its artistic collaboration with V&A Dundee so that whisky making and architectural design were told as one narrative rather than as a sponsorship.

Richmond & Towers ran a press trip to V&A Dundee for 30 of the country's most influential spirits voices, immersing them in the whisky's artistry and historical roots and giving exclusive access to the creators behind the collaboration. The trip closed with an evening of bespoke cocktails, intimate whisky tastings and the reveal of The Dalmore Luminary No.2 shown in the gallery, a visual presentation that carried the launch into print, online and social media.

Richmond & Towers reports over 500 articles, reaching 191 million readers, and 107 social media posts from influential figures, with every press trip attendee producing coverage, including features in titles the agency describes as prestigious.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

High-net-worth individuals and whisky aficionados worldwide, reached through luxury, consumer and trade media.
Based on the available evidence, the work sits between whisky read as heritage craft and whisky read as contemporary design object, and the V&A Dundee setting allows both readings to hold at the same time.
Luxury spirits launches compete for the same small pool of specialist writers, so the task was giving broader luxury and consumer desks a reason to run a single bottle release.
The Dalmore is positioned as a patron of design rather than only a distiller, with the Luminary series acting as the vehicle for that claim.
Influential drinks voices publish what they can show, so staging the reveal as a gallery moment appears to be what converted attendance into coverage across print, online and social.

Creative & Execution System

Partners

  • Richmond & Towers Communications (lead_agency)

Results & Evidence

MetricValueResult type
press articlesOver 500 articles, reaching 191 million readersperformance
readership reachOver 500 articles, reaching 191 million readersreach
social media posts from influential figures107 social media posts from influential figuresperformance

Why Richmond & Towers Communications's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Concentrating invitations on 30 attendees rather than a wide list appears to be what produced full conversion, because a single hosted evening gives every guest the same access and the same photographable moment to file against.

  2. 2

    Placing the product inside a gallery gave media a visual asset obtainable nowhere else, which reads as the reason coverage carried across print, online and social rather than sitting inside drinks trade titles alone.

  3. 3

    Borrowing the credibility of a cultural institution gives a spirits release a design story that luxury and lifestyle desks can run, which widens the pool of publications beyond writers who cover whisky by beat.

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