Diageo's partnership with Scottish Ballet began in 2021 with this project – the bottling and sale of the 26 year old Royal Lochnagar The Sleeping Beauty whisky from Diageo’s Casks of Distinction programme.
Scottish Ballet asked me to create a suite of images, commemorative brochure and film for this once-in-a-lifetime auction, aiming to draw collectors in to this fairytale story.
The project was a huge success, generating over £200,000 for the Scottish Ballet Endowment Fund through a private auction.
Once upon time... Scottish Ballet received a donation with a difference — a very special cask. 'The Sleeping Beauty' was laid down at Royal Lochnagar, a distillery one mile from Balmoral Castle; its cask end painted by renowned Scottish artist, Norman Edgar, portraying a dancer in the iconic role of the sleeping beauty.
After 26 years, The Sleeping Beauty cask was awoken at last, as an official bottling of Royal Lochnagar single malt Scotch whisky, part of Diageo's Casks of Distinction collection - some of the rarest whiskies to be released from Diageo’s extensive stocks - with proceeds going to Scottish Ballet.
I travelled with my creative team to Royal Lochnagar distillery, where photographer Gavin Smart captured these images on location, and I directed this short film for Scottish Ballet's socials.
