THE MACALLAN DISTIL YOUR WORLD LONDON DOCUMENTARY TO AIR ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO 

The Macallan’s ground-breaking new exploration, in collaboration with the Roca brothers, to discover the essence of one of the world’s greatest cities will be featured in an Amazon Prime Video documentary from the 7^th December.

Distil Your World London follows The Macallan Whisky Maker Steven Bremner and the Roca brothers, owners of El Celler de Can Roca in Spain, twice named Best Restaurant in the World, as they explore the international city from an array of perspectives including food, culture, innovation, and community spirit.

In their quest to uncover the essence of the city, Steven Bremner and the three Roca brothers encounter Londoners who are experts in fields such as innovation, sustainability, and craftsmanship. Back in Girona at El Celler de Can Roca, they work together to extract the essence of London, creating a unique experiential sensory food and whisky pairing to be served in exclusive bars and restaurants across London.

During their adventure, the long-standing partners spend time with Indian chef Asma Khan, whose experience as a new arrival into London’s melting pot in 1991 and self-taught culinary skills offer a deep look into London’s multicultural side. As they tour a neighbourhood spice shop together, Asma gives a brief history lesson on Britain’s long-standing relationship with India and spices over the centuries and explains how Indian food and its spices have been part of London’s cuisine for almost 200 years. During a dining experience in Asma’s restaurant, Darjeeling Express, they discover the delicate balanced nature of using spices and the complexity of taste that can be achieved.

Steven, Joan, Josep and Jordi also meet with Laura Winningham, CEO of City Harvest London. The large-scale food redistribution charity collects high quality surplus from the food industry and redistributes it to over 300 charities and community programmes. While touring the City Harvest London warehouse, they witness a real sense of commitment and trust in the initiative. Inspired by this vibrant community spirit, they agree that exploring London’s community values is crucial to understanding the city itself.

Community spirit is something that resonates with The Macallan, which places a high value on its own relationship with its local Speyside community, as well as its global community. The Distil Your World London documentary itself will benefit City Harvest London through its online promotion via Good-Loop, a media vendor which enables brands to support charities through their advertising campaigns.

Jaume Ferras, Global Creative Director for The Macallan, said: “Distil Your World London is an exploration and journey in collaboration with the Roca brothers to create a whisky and a gastronomic experience capturing the essence of the city. It is not just about being there, but about immersing yourself and dedicating time to understanding what’s underneath everything you see and Distil Your World London is our attempt to document and share what we have learnt.

“We love the world of gastronomy. Since the origins of the estate where we live in 1543, farming has never stopped. That’s why our relationship with the Rocas is so natural, because we speak about something that we share a common language in. Food and whisky come together in perfect harmony because that’s how we have seen the world since the very beginning of The Macallan.”

Steven Bremner, The Macallan Whisky Maker, said: “We knew that we would find many things we could learn from through our exploration. It is a real challenge trying to take something as big as a city and distil its essence into a single malt whisky and the Distil Your World London  expression does not have typical flavour descriptors that you would see on a whisky.”

Josep Roca, said: “London is a food capital – open, cosmopolitan and a cultural melting pot. What you see in London is the world in a nutshell. The city has a depth: it has a history, and centuries of written cuisine. Thinking up dishes and snacks that remind us of a city is a real challenge. Encapsulating the aromas, the essence, an idea for an appetizer. For a whisky to have that kind of connection with a city is fascinating and all of these challenges arise in the kitchen at El Celler de Can Roca.”

Distil Your World London also features a selection of other characters including: London visionary Mischa Dohler – a Professor in Wireless Communications at King’s College London and director of the Centre for Telecommunications Research who epitomises London’s futuristic side; bespoke tailor Davide Taub – the Head Cutter at Gieves & Hawkes who is defined by the mastery, passion, craftsmanship and time he devotes to every piece he creates; and tea sommelier Edward Eisler – a tea lover who dedicates his life to the finest brews of Chinese tea.

The pioneering documentary marks the next step in The Macallan’s long-standing partnership with the Roca brothers. Their previous collaborations include Distil Your World Scotland, a culinary journey through Scotland to explore the country’s rich cuisine tapestry which resulted in an innovative publication and documentary which is also available to view on Amazon Prime Video as part of the Distil Your World series.

Distil Your World London will air on Amazon Prime Video from 7^th December 2020. For further information visit www.themacallan.com

Notes 

About The Macallan

Founded in 1824, The Macallan is renowned worldwide for its extraordinary single malt whiskies. Their outstanding quality and distinctive character reveal the uncompromised excellence pursued by The Macallan since it was established by Alexander Reid, on a plateau above the River Spey in north-east Scotland.

In 2018, The Macallan opened a new chapter in its history with the launch of its award-winning Speyside distillery. Designed by internationally acclaimed architects to promote sustainability, the building takes inspiration from the surrounding ancient Scottish hills. It stands nearby Easter Elchies House, the Highland Manor built in 1700 which is The Macallan’s spiritual home and remains the heartbeat of The Macallan’s beautiful 485-acre Estate.