Festivities herald roll out of Cotswolds Distillery products across P&O Cruises and Cunard fleets

The opening weeks of the initial launch onboard P&O Cruises' Britannia and Iona have seen hundreds of bottles of Cotswolds' gin and whisky sold from the vessels’ stores. A mix of bar takeovers, tasting events and specialist promotions featured, helping Cotswolds Distillery whisky become the number one liquor brand sold onboard Britannia.

Cotswolds Distillery products will appear on all P&O Cruises and Cunard ships by the end of the year, with associated launch experiences taking place.

Launch experiences

The launch experiences set to occur include a combination of high footfall and more intimate 1-2-1 brand tasting events, high visibility point of sale and pop up displays - from free standing display units to a fully branded Cotswolds Distillery-styled Land Rover.

Highlights will also include takeover of the onboard liquor bars for both gin and whisky, theatrical serving using vapour ‘bubble guns’ to top off drinks with gin flavoured bubbles, whisky masterclasses plus the promotion of 2-4-1 ‘grain to glass’ distillery tours for every two bottles purchased on board. 

‘The Cotswolds Distillery interactive and sensorial experiences, as well as launching our new innovative and premium products onboard, offer the guests new and engaging reasons to purchase outstanding gin and whisky,’ said Cotswolds Distillery’s international sales and global travel retail director Lynsey Eades. 

Smartly, sustainable actions 

Harding+ CCO Matthew Hodges remarked, ‘We know from the customer data and insights that we have invested in heavily over the last few years just what ticks the box for our partner cruise guests when it comes to joined up, original and interactive brand experiences… by blending the onboard experience with a story that can continue back on land with a value for money live distillery experience, it means brand loyalty can become a long term end outcome from our cruise start point.’

He went on to add, ‘We are also delighted that this British distilled product employs smartly sustainable actions in their process, using the water left over from the distilling process, for example, to water the land. A core part of our Harding+ business mission is to champion sustainability at all touchpoints of both our own business and our partner supply chain.’