SCOTTISH FLAVOUR, FRENCH FLAIR

Bumping along a Perthshire country road in a minivan en route to the opening party for The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant, I receive the answer I was expecting from a fellow passenger: “Yes, we’re all from Lalique.” The trio of elegantly suited and booted gentlemen could hardly have been from anywhere else – their accents had given them away.

The French luxury brands company Lalique Group bought a 50 per cent stake in The Glenturret in April 2019, entering into a joint venture with Swiss entrepreneur Hansjörg Wyss to acquire the tiny Crieff distillery from The Edrington Group. This takeover saw the former brand home of The Famous Grouse transformed into the epicentre of a new luxury single malt brand and, now, a fine-dining restaurant.

“My mother is Scottish, so I was raised around whisky since I was a baby – it was in my bottle,” joked one of the three, a smile hidden behind his face mask, after being asked whether he had been interested in whisky before his employer moved into single malt. In truth, the luxury crystal maker had a hand in the whisky industry long before ownership of The Glenturret was on the cards. Perhaps inevitably, conversation turned to Lalique's partnership with The