inside the industry
SINGLE MALTS
Glenlivet’s Golden Hue
The Tiger Protector
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rowing up in the sixties and seventies, we Scots were full of ourselves – and with no small justification, as we built on Harold McMillan’s “never had it so good” years. Our football team, post 1970, was always at the World Cup, our literary heroes were Scott, Stevenson, Cronin, Burns, Buchan and many more, and Dr Finlay’s Casebook kept our mother’s happy enough with the television to allow us to watch The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Even there, we had our pride as David McCallum (Ilya Kuryakin) was Scottish and obviously a far better fighter than Robert Vaughn (Napoleon Solo). There was also whisky and the anticipation of being old enough to enjoy what our fathers assured us was “a man’s drink” and, of course, we were the inventors of golf and many of us had a bag of old hickories that we dragged gloriously around the par threes of our local clubs. Looking back with a somewhat rheumy eye and an older, perhaps wiser perspective, it would be easy to be disappointed. Qualifying for the World Cup is a distant memory, we fare no better on the links with our new titanium-shafted clubs than we did with those marvelously flexible hickories and the glory of many of those literary heroes have diminished with our adult appreciation more firmly rooted in personal and political bias. However, we are well past that threshold of minority that denied us the appreciation of malt whisky and I have found that the situation, viewed through a golden hued glass, is ne a rer to Mc M i l la n’s promise than we like to admit. Joh n Bucha n , w it h his abhorrent prejudices may have been consigned to my literary dustbin, but Scott and Stevenson reta i n t heir appea l as true literary giants and both of them had their distinct preferences when it came to whisky. In The Scotsman’s Return from Abroad Stevenson writes, “The king o’ drinks as I conceive it, Talisker, Isla or Glenlivet”, while Walter Scott, in 1822, arranged the visit of George IV to Edinburgh and ensured that only Glenlivet was served to the king who would drink nothing else throughout his visit. The Glenlivet is one of the giants of Scots whisky and produces some truly glorious bottlings. However, a short history lesson is required to provide some perspective. It’s true, things were not “as simple then” and the timing of the Royal patronage becomes particularly suspicious when one realizes that in 1824, George Smith, the owner of the Glenlivet distillery became the first licensed whisky producer in the Glen of Livet and this must be understood in relation to the existing situation. By 1820, there continued to be some 200 illicit stills in Glenlivet; the Glen of the Livet reaches deep into the mountains which separate Speyside from Royal Deeside in the far Northeast of Scotland. Today it is relatively remote; in the eighteenth and 20
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nineteenth centuries it was virtually inaccessible and it bred a bold and self-reliant people who clung to the old tradition of whisky making. George Smith procured the pre-eminence of The Glenlivet, so named because of its acceptance of the new licensing laws, at the expense of these compatriots. Alastair Campbell and Tom DeLay would have understood the process well. As with Buchan’s The Path of the King, many a great result arrives on the back of a history of skullduggery and The Glenlivet is as close as one can get to the end justifying the means. Truly distinct from the peaty island malts that featured in this magazine’s recent reviews, the product of this distillery is as close to “fruity” as any whisky in Scotland. Recently, I sampled a Glenlivet 1980 and despite it being an over proof bottling, it was unusual in that it did not demand water in the quantities that similar strength island malts require. Indeed, I sampled it neat and it had none of the abrasive finish that I expected, with the enduring redolence being almost sweet. However, it became virtually floral with the addition of a soupçon of spring water and that is how I would recommend it is drunk. T he Glen l ivet , l i ke m a ny m a lt w h i sk i e s , develops a smokier more robu st f lavou r w it h age, but it is no surprise that the 12-year-old is particularly popular in its own right as it is both spicy and sweet. But it is also a whisky that has none of the characters that overwhelm those embarking on a single malt odyssey. I prefer to sample this without any additional water and would recommend it to those new to whisky. Of course, if this introduction is conducted with golden hued glass in hand, it will be accompanied by tales of a new Scotland portrayed by great men and women of the ilk of Bill Forsyth, who in an ideal world, would be scripting Donald Trump’s Burt Lancaster-like transformation from brash invader into Local Hero. HKGOLFER.COM
Philip Curlewis, CEO of Hong Kong-based security specialists Abate Risk, discusses his role at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai: guarding the world’s number one
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i rst off, we’re not bodyguards. I hate the term – we’re not thicknecked gorillas a nd we don ’t drag our knuckles on the floor, which is what everyone seems to assu me when t hey hear the word. We are protection specia l ist s a nd we ha nd le executive and VIP security. It has nothing to do with fighting. Simply put, if you’re fighting then you’re not protecting the client, which is what we’re all about. In the past, people have applied for positions with us because they might happen to have a black belt in karate. That might be useful, but the job is much more about being observant and having a keen eye for detail. Of course, having the ability to subdue people who are a potential threat is important (and all our guys are more than capable of doing so), but quite frankly our number one priority is to remove the client and ourselves from any danger. We were brought i n by IMG, the event organizers, in 2005, the second year of the tournament. A lthough I’m a golfer myself, we’d never worked at a golf event before and, during the course of our research, it was interesting to see how protection is handled elsewhere in the world. On the PGA Tour, for instance, they tend to hire police guys i n u n i for m , wh ic h m ig ht sound okay, but they’re really not specialists. In a lot of the video footage we’ve looked at, HKGOLFER.COM
AFP/Getty Images
Whisky editor John Bruce raises his glass to “the king o’ drinks”
On the prowl: Curlewis and Tiger, Shanghai, 2006 HK Golfer・OCT/NOV 2009
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“Would I jump in front of a bullet for Tiger? Ha! It’s a question I’m often asked, but it’s not like it is in the movies.” it was clear that many of these guys were more interested in watching the play and not watching the crowd. Seeing where the potential threat comes from is obviously crucial. I truly love golf but even when I’m walking eighteen holes with Tiger I don’t actually see him hit many shots. I’m constantly watching the galleries. You’d think I had the best seat in the house, but that’s really not the case. Golf courses are difficult places to secure and so a lot of our work is spent in preparation. We arrive on the Sunday before the tournament gets underway and spend a day and a half driving around the course looking for ‘choke points’ – places where the spectators tend to converge – and evacuation routes. We need two evacuation routes on each hole in case of a threat or medical emergency. At Sheshan, host venue of the HSBC Champions, this often means our quickest escape is through the bushes and into the gardens of the expensive homes they have there. People don’t tend to associate sporting events with danger, but Tiger is seen as much more than just a sportsman. He really is a major celebrity and our main concern is the possibility that an obsessed psycho might want to cause him harm. It’s credible – look what happened to John Lennon, after all. At the HSBC we don’t have to worry too much about white supremacist groups or anything like that, but it’s relatively easy to get hold of guns on the mainland, so we have to be prepared for any circumstance. Also, 22
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many of the fans who turn up to watch golf events aren’t really golf fans; they’re celebrity watchers and they can to be quite rough and pushy when it comes to getting autographs. Although they themselves might not seem like a real threat, a cap or pen thrust into a player’s face can be both annoying and potentially dangerous. In fact, we heard about a situation at the inaugural event (which we weren’t working) where a fan nearly caught Tiger in the eye with his biro. It might not sound like much, but that biro has the potential to blind – and so we keep a very tight cordon around him when he’s within proximity of spectators. Tiger does sign autographs, but we ensure that the fans behave themselves first. It should be said that Tiger doesn’t employ us. The organizers employ us. Say Tiger got injured – whether deliberately or accidentally. It reflects badly on the sponsors and the tournament. We are basically the insurance blanket for them. We have eleven guys to look after Tiger – and it’s a 24-hour job. The night shift crew gets it a little easier, as I permit them to go and watch the golf during the day. But every one of us is working 18-19 hour days. When we’re not on the course with him we’re guarding his villa (Tiger doesn’t stay in the official hotel, he gets one of the on-course properties for the week) and shadowing his PR activities and press conferences. Even when he’s safely tucked up in bed, we run through debriefings and discuss our plans for the next day. In fact, the only time that we’re not in direc t contact with him or his team is when he’s working out. Every morning, Tiger goes for a 45-minute run around the course and he and Stevie Williams [Tiger’s caddie] spend time in the gym. He’s super fit: he does sevenminute miles and works out for an hour on the weights before heading out to the course. It’s probably just as well he goes off on his own, as keeping up with him would be hard work. When we first worked with Tiger he was quite aloof for the first couple of days. He was very polite, but he would often play tricks with us, like suddenly walking off the course into the public areas to dispose of his banana or energy bar in the spectator litter bins. It was only a test to see if we were on our toes, to ensure that we were fully alert – and naturally we were. But as the week went on both he and Williams became more comfortable with us. Before any job we profile our clients in order to find out their likes and dislikes. For instance we found out that Tiger likes to read USA Today, so we provided that in the car from the airport. In Williams’ case – and he is very much an integral part of ‘Team Tiger’ – we knew that he’s an ardent All Black rugby fan, so we – and we’re all rugby types ourselves – chatted about the recent form HKGOLFER.COM
of the New Zealand team. It all helps in the bonding process. We have had complaints, but they’ve mostly been about our positioning and, bizarrely, our dress. After the first day in 2005, we were asked by the organizers not to obstruct the advertising hoardings. It’s difficult – we have to keep put of a player’s line of sight but still be in a protective location – but obviously we understand that we’re big guys and standing in front of the advertisers’ signage, which is projected to millions of viewers across the world, isn’t ideal. One year the mayor of Shanghai rang up late at night complaining that we looked too “paramilitary”. I was amazed, as while we do wear our 511 cargo pants and heavy boots, we also wear an HSBC polo shirt and cap. I’d love to be able to wear shorts, like the caddies do, but we’re not allowed. We do wear lightweight body armour, however, and it can get rather uncomfortable due to the heat. November in Shanghai is normally pretty cool, but the first year we were there it was sweltering. Funnily enough, if you’re constantly sweating it can damage the protective material, so I told the rest of the lads that body armour would be optional for the rest of the week. That excluded the two guys, including myself, who are closest proximity to Tiger. I insisted we wear it. Would I jump in front of a bullet for Tiger? Ha! It’s a question I’m often asked, but it’s not like it is in the movies. Our preparatory work should prevent that from ever happening, but if someone managed to have the opportunity then they’d have a big ugly mug coming towards him. That, in our experience, creates a lot of indecision and it makes the marksman question
“Tiger’s super fit: he does seven-minute miles and works out for an hour on the weights before heading out to the course. It’s probably just as well he goes off on his own, as keeping up with him would be hard work.” his own self preservation, which can give you a few vital seconds. In that situation, our nearest guys would immediately go for the shooter and the others would protect the client. They would “collapse” onto and evacuate the client, which would be immediate and is essentially a result of muscle memory; it’s a reaction. We would surround the VIP tightly, effectively forming a human shield, and evacuate him or her in the opposite direction from the threat; the shooter wouldn’t have a clear line of sight. He’d have to hit the “mass”, which is why we keep the body armour on. But I’ll tell you now: hitting a moving target is incredibly difficult, although Hollywood might have you think otherwise. I enjoy protecting the golf pros. In our time we’ve also worked with Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh and Paul Casey – and they’ve all been great to work with – but Tiger is obviously our main concern. We charge anywhere between US$750-1,500 per man, per day depending on the situation, but I don’t do the HSBC Champions just for the money. It can be hard work walking in the rough for five days straight, but as someone who plays the game on a regular basis it brings me immense satisfaction. If only they’d let me play the course once I’ve seen Tiger off on his private jet. It looks a cracker but I’ve yet to enjoy it myself.
Executive protection: Sheshan's a stunner, but Curlewis has yet to play it (far left); the Abate Risk team pose with their client, Phil Mickelson (bottom) HKGOLFER.COM
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