Do you remember what you were doing at 16? Well, for some, it was trying to fit in with the cool crowd, or trying to quell the very excitable hormones. For Chivas Regal, the age of 16... well, it is unprecedented. The brand do not have a 16 Year Old expression in their stable, but, together with their Global Brand Ambassador Charles Leclerc (who also does some race car driving on the side... I kid, I kid) created the Chivas Regal 16 Limited-Edition.
In our interview with Leclerc, the racer thought a 16 year old expression was—in his own words—"very cool". "I think the idea came together on the go." Leclerc said. "Initially, we brainstormed on creating a whisky that is my own. I wanted to make something that would be more relevant, more meaningful, more exciting, and very quickly I went to Scotland, I met Sandy Hislop (Chivas Regal’s Master Blender Emeritus) and the team to see the process of whisky making. It was just mind-blowing."
Through the discussion and site visit, Leclerc was attracted to a Longmorn single malt, due to its sherry cask profile, and wanted to craft his After travelling to Scotland to see the craft first-hand, he chose his preferred blend and set the final challenge: to craft a 16 year old whisky.
So what goes into a 16 Year Old? It's a blended whisky that's a mix of 16 other expressions, each of them that were aged, at least 16 years. The number "16" seems too on the nose, especially when it came to Ferrari racer, but the number has always shadowed him all his life.
"I am born on 16th of October, so that's the first number I've ever remembered when I was a kid," Leclerc adds. "Sixteen has always took a special place in my heart throughout my childhood. I've used this number on several occasions in karting races. Some were successful, some less so, but the number even followed me when I got to Formula 1 (16 is Leclerc's car number)."
Lest you think there's something portentous about 16, Leclerc is quick to shoot down any superstition around it.
"My wife actually knows a bit about numerology," Leclerc explains. "Sometimes she'd tell me about them, but I'm not particularly into it, if I'm honest."
For the cynical readers out there, Leclerc was involved in the crafting of the expression.
According to Hyslop, Leclerc was "in the room, making decisions, pushing back". "He gravitated toward the character that defines Chivas Regal: rich, layered, built with real depth. What we’ve created together is a blend that’s unmistakably his and unmistakably ours.” Hyslop said.
Leclerc sat with Hyslop, going through the rigours as he tasted different whiskies to create something that would fit his palate and stand out. The result is a rich and profound profile, where mandarin oranges, raisins and honey meet the nose before submitting before a cinnamon and sticky toffee aroma. On the palate, one would find orange marmalade and apple that swing into toasted oak and ginger spice. Then the dismount, where a velvety finish linger long after the whisky goes down the hatch.
As our time draws to a close, we ask Leclerc what he was like when he was 16.
"That's an interesting question. I haven't thought about that for a long time." I was probably karting. Honestly, I was just a kid with a big dream of becoming a Formula One driver one day. I wasn't so sure this would happen because it was so unlikely to get to Formula One and also to be in the top 20 drivers in the world."
Such a notion to Leclerc felt like a pipe dream, but most of his life was steeped in racing. It was little wonder that with hard work and a little elbow grease, Leclerc would be placed 5th in 2026 Formula One World Championship drivers' standings, at the point of writing).
Yes, it seems insurmountable for a 16-year-old Charles Leclerc to be an F1 driver. But the same can be said for many great and impossible things. I mean, do you think that Leclerc at 16 would imagine that he would have his own limited-edition whisky? I think not. But all goals start with a dream, even the ones that you don't plan for.
The Chivas Regal 16 Limited-Edition retails for SGD130 and is exclusively in-store at select Fairprice Finest and online at Shopee
