Mathieu Bertin is the brand ambassador of Irish Whiskey Jameson to India. He has been working in India for 9 months. Previously, he had been working in Paris. He was recently in Nepal to conduct some tasting sessions of food and beverages in the top hotels and restaurants. In an interview with Angila Sharma of New Business Age, he shares his knowledge regarding Irish whiskey and the reason behind Jameson’s peculiar taste. Excerpts: 

 

What is the purpose of your visit to Nepal?

I am the brand ambassador in Delhi. But the team here asked me to come over to do some tasting for food and beverages of hotels, restaurants. I am also doing few consumer tasting sessions. The whole point of these sessions is to educate people on what Jameson and Irish whiskey is. Most importantly, all these sessions are a means of telling people the difference of Irish whiskey from American or Scotch. 

 

What makes Jameson or any Irish Whiskey different from American whiskey or Scotch?

Irish whiskey is unique in the way that Ireland is the only country in the world to produce some pot still whiskey. Pot still whiskey is what makes Jameson particular. It is made out of malted and unmalted barley. The fact that we have unmalted barley gives Jameson a spicy taste. The most important fact about Irish whiskey and Jameson is that it is always triple distilled. This is a tradition that we have in Ireland as it makes whiskey smoother and it is proven. Every time we conduct such sessions, 70 to 80 per cent of people prefer Jameson because of the smoothness compared to American whisky which is distilled once and Scotch which is distilled twice.

 

Could you please tell us about your distribution channel in Nepal?

Jameson is a part of the Pernod Richard group. Pernord Richard has a large portfolio of brands ranging from Jameson whiskey to Chivas Regal. Pernod Richard handles the brand in Nepal. Jameson whiskey is widely available in all the liquor shops, hotels, supermarkets.

 

Are you trying to expand the market of Jameson whiskey in Nepal?

Definitely. This is only the first step of Jameson’s development in Nepal. It has been available here for a while. Now, our goal is to raise the awareness of Jameson through tasting sessions. Hopefully, I will come back soon and we can do some more tasting sessions and organize few events in large to show what the brand Jameson really is as it is totally different from scotch and American whiskey. Scotch is generally related to business and American whiskey is a lot about having shots. Jameson has a lot more laidback personality and we want to showcase that to the people of Nepal. 

 

How do you evaluate the drinking culture in this part of the world?

Before I moved to New Delhi, I was working as a brand ambassador in Paris. I have found the culture to be totally different from each other. The type of whiskey people order and the way they drink it is totally different from what I was used to seeing. In this part of the world, people generally mix their whiskey with lots of ice and soda water. This is something totally new for me. But, the drinking trends that I was seeing back in Europe are now slowly growing in Nepal as well. I see a lot of people looking for new cocktails and long drinks to make with whiskey. This is why Jameson is a great drink for them as it is smooth and versatile. It is easy to mix with a lot of different ingredients. So, for long drinks, we always recommend Jameson.

 

Why is a brand ambassador required for a whiskey brand?

Well, people are really starting to want to have more knowledge about brands. Our websites help individuals go through all our products and its making. But, it is good to have a face to face interaction with the consumers and staffs of the bars and hotels because I am there to help them to know things about whiskey that they don’t know. So, for them, it is crystal clear about what Jameson is and how it is different from other whiskeys in the world. So, having me as the face of the brand, it definitely helps people in terms of knowledge of whiskey to the people who are interested in knowing about whiskey. It is the best way to show my knowledge.