Rugby legend and inspirational Motor Neuron Disease campaigner Doddie Weir has taken delivery of a rare consignment of Scotch whisky to raise money for his My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.
The cask of 16-year-old Glenkinchie Single Malt Whisky was donated by leading whisky company Diageo, with a total of 378 bottles being bottled and labelled specially to support Doddie’s fundraising for research into a cure for MND.
Doddie visited Glenkinchie Distillery in East Lothian earlier this year to sample whiskies and personally select the cask, and he has now received the first batch of bottles at his home in the Scottish Borders.
The single malt will be used by the Foundation in a variety of fundraising activities, including auctions, raffles and prize giveaways with every penny going to the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.
Receiving the bottles, Doddie said: “It’s very exciting to see the cask I chose earlier this year now packaged in these beautiful bottles bearing my Foundation tartan.
“The whisky is a great addition to our fundraising efforts and I’m sure it will generate a lot of money to support the search for a cure to MND.
“It’s a gorgeous, smooth and silky single malt and I know people are going to love it. It’s been a pleasure working with the people at Diageo and Glenkinchie and I look forward to sharing a dram with them again soon.”
Ewan Andrew, Diageo President of Global Supply Chain & Procurement, who pledged the cask earlier this year when Doddie visited Diageo’s Scottish corporate headquarters at Edinburgh Park, said: “It has been a pleasure and privilege for everyone at Diageo to be able to support Doddie Weir and his remarkable fundraising campaign.
“He is a true inspiration to us all with the incredible bravery and good humour with which he meets the challenges of his condition. We look forward to these bottles of whisky raising lots of funds for the battle against Motor Neuron Disease.”
Glenkinchie Distillery Manager, Ramsay Borthwick, who helped Doddie select the cask at the distillery earlier this year, said: “We are very proud to have Glenkinchie single malt associated with Doddie Weir and his foundation.”
“It is a rare thing to have a single cask of Glenkinchie bottled in this way and combined with the special My Name’s Doddie Foundation labels, they will be highly sought after and I am sure will raise a significant amount of money for this brilliant cause.”
