When the roof of the Glenfiddich distillery warehouse in Speyside collapsed under the weight of four foot of snow in January last year, malt master Brian Kinsman had a wee problem.

What to do with the Oloroso sherry casks and American oak barrels full of maturing spirit, exposed to the night sky and -19°C temperatures?

Necessity being the mother of invention, a unique limited edition was blended to celebrate the pioneering spirit of making whisky in extreme conditions. As Kinsman recalls: "A photographer came to film the roof collapse and when we looked at the pictures, the light shining through the warehouse roofs looked like a phoenix rising above us. I suppose this was the moment of conception of Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix."

The bleak arctic scene is captured in the stark monochrome packaging; each bottle is presented in a coal-black tin. And timeous too, as the five cases of whisky abandoned by Ernest Shackleton during his abortive expedition to the South Pole a century ago have recently been retrieved and are in the news.

The new brand is appropriately named after the phoenix, the bird from Greek mythology that emerges from the flames, while whisky gets life from the peated fires used to distill fiery spirit out of a weak beer fermented from malted barley.

This bird has arrived in the nick of time for advertising agencies as a ban on alcohol advertising is threatened in the UK and SA. The mission is to transform alcoholic beverages from commodities, like soap powder and toothpaste advertised in magazines and on billboards, into lifestyle issues discussed in features like this one.

The Great Warehouse Collapse of 2010 is one mission accomplished and 1200 bottles will soon be arriving in SA and offered at R600 each. Bottled at cask strength of 47.6% alcohol by volume, this is a bird of ferocious intensity.

Consumers can stand by for a flock of such fortuitous brands as a subtle redirection of alcohol ad-spend is under way. Brandhouse/Diageo woke up early, smelt the floral notes of regulation and are already moving their advertising "below the line" as the Johnnie Walker sponsorship of the 10th SA Cheese Festival this weekend confirms.

Snow Phoenix's tasting notes were developed by those other rescue specialists in extreme climes, the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team. Since they are peppered with Scottishisms like "heather honey", I poured a wee dram for a brace of Cape Town coffee kings, David Donde from TRUTH.coffeecult and freelance coffee bean roaster Jake Easton, who has made some fine artisanal cider in his time.

"Like wine, but better," said Easton, "with that structural bitterness on the finish like Campari."

"Very promising. Maple syrup on the nose rather than honey," opined Donde, "with an unexpected peatiness on the palate. The most interesting Glenfiddich this side of the 25-year-old."

A revolutionary spirit to be sure and, without advertising, a taste of things to come.

Read Pendock Uncorked at http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/pendock