Posted on July 30th, 2022.

Meet Gary Leong, Global Travel Retail Director at Swedish beauty tech and wellness house Foreo (and its supercharged sister brand FAQ), the man charged with shaping the company’s extraordinary success in what has long been earmarked as a key channel.

Leong has been involved in the China and global retail sector for over 20 years. He has been instrumental in successfully introducing international brands such as Chloé and Akris into the Chinese retail market since 1999.

He has extensive knowledge and a deep understanding of the luxury, beauty and travel retail sectors, communications, and real estate network throughout China and globally.

But it’s not all about work. When not travelling, he likes to enjoy the weekends with friends over a dinner paired with good wines, whisky and an occasional cigar. He hosts regular get-togethers with the occasional guest chef, resulting in dinner parties that are on everyone’s must-have invitation list in Shanghai.

Martin Moodie spoke with him recently about three of both men’s favourite subjects, wine, whisky and cigars.

PART ONE – WINE

Gary, let’s start with your wine journey. Can you recall the occasion you first tried a very good wine – and the label?

I have been very fortunate to have grown up with a great wine & cigar aficionado, my father. At an early age, I would see crates of wine being delivered to the house. I even got to open those wooden crates and one by one had to carefully stack them in their section in the basement cellar. And thus began my lifelong love and passion for Bordeaux wines.

In those days, wine was wine. You just drank it and you refilled the cellar when it got empty. I was lucky to be able to sample many different wines at a young age, even the greatest vintages.

There were many house parties, and I guess my first wine tasting of a good claret was with a Château Cos d’Estournel. As I recall, the Cos d’Estournel, a Saint-Estèphe, had a very distinct soft, supple character to the finish.

Perhaps it was the graceful and rich, dark ruby colour that allowed me to enjoy that first glass of remarkable wine. But then again, the collection in the cellar was also predominantly made up of wines from Pauillac, Saint-Julien, Margaux and Saint-Émilion region.

I think all wine lovers have that moment when they really fall – truly, madly, deeply – in love with wine. When they just know this is going to be a lifetime commitment. What was that wine for you?

In 1997, I had the chance to visit Bordeaux for a private tasting at Château Latour, Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Pichon Lalande, and Château Cheval Blanc. It was truly my most memorable experience in wine. It was safe to say, there was no wine to be found in the spittoon for my part!

For me, Château Cheval Blanc stood out the most. Generally made with 66% Cabernet Franc, 33% Merlot and 1% Malbec, it is truly a distinctive wine. What was most interesting was that no other wine had that much of a Cabernet Franc concentration. The tasting still lingers in my mind – a full-bodied, concentrated wine, deep in colour and plums.

Are you very much an Old World wine drinker? What about the New World?

Having grown up with the Old World, my introduction to the New World came when I did my undergrad in San Francisco, which also put me very close to Napa Valley.

Almost every other weekend, I would take a drive to Napa and visit the wineries. This was my introduction to the great Cabernet Sauvignons coming out of Napa. Most memorable were the wines from Dunn Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain, which had a rich, dense, black currant to them, while Insignia from Joseph Phelps Vineyards in Napa was a softer, silky, spicy, dark currant wine. I managed to try the 1985, 1986 vintages and subsequently the 1991 and 1992 vintages.

Magnums of 1987 Dominus owned by Christian Moueix; 1991 Dalla Valle, Napa; 1990 Robert Mondavi Reserve; and 1991 Beringer Private Reserve were part of a remarkable tasting during a Christmas Dinner hosted by Judge Wilson Loo in Hawaii.

Another memorable note would be the story of Jim Vuletic, owner of the Providence winery in New Zealand. Matakana wines from Providence are still embedded into my palate to this very day. I believe when Jim Vuletic set off to make his version of a Bordeaux great, the Cheval Blanc, he actually meant it.

How did I come across this gem? Well, it was through one of the wine brokers in London and there was buzz talk that some winery in New Zealand had made a clone of the Cheval Blanc.

It’s not surprising that Providence is made with a concentration of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec, which are found in the Cheval Blanc. I had purchased a case each of the 1993 and 1994 that ended up in Singapore, and I can only kick myself for not purchasing more.

Favourite regions and countries?

Italian wines and the cuisine, how can you say no to them! Amarone Classico tends to be the most elegant and aromatic. Nebbiolo, the ‘baby Barbaresco’ for its fragrant, light and fruity wines and Nero d’Avola from Sicily for their spicy currant characters.

Australian wine specifically from the Coonawarra wine region is one of my favourites. The terra rossa soil and cherry and plum finish make for the most incredible Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Merlot.

At a wine tasting hosted by Treasury Wine Estates in their Shanghai headquarters, I had the pleasure of trying the new 2018 Penfolds Bin 600 California Edition, Cabernet Shiraz and the Bin 704 Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon. It was matched with the 2016 Wynns Coonawarra Black Label, Penfolds Bin 28 and Bin 150. The Wynns is a huge wine, silky with full of black currants and fruits. The Penfolds Bin 389 tagged as a ‘Baby Grange’ also came up a strong contender.

How about whites?

Having spent time in San Francisco, I got to experience the new wave of American wines. So, I was more prone to the American Chardonnay. Kistler Vineyards in Sonoma makes great burgundy-style Chardonnays with intense buttery notes and Ferrari-Carano in Sonoma have these creamy, fruity Chardonnays.

A forward Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand is definitely a must. Simply refreshing with their tropical fruity notes. Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc from Martinborough is at the top of my list. Tasting notes suggest apples, melon, and passionfruit while I keep getting hints of pineapples from this beautiful white.

Do you have a home cellar?

In my home, there are three medium-size wine fridges with about 150 bottles. They are separated into one for Bordeaux & Burgundy, one for Champagnes and one for everyday drinking, which mainly comprises Australian, Italian and Spanish reds, and some ready to go whites like Côtes du Rhône, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnays. The rest are kept in a London cellar.

Favourite wine moment since you began in travel retail?

It was during one of my long-haul flights – touching down in Milan – that I decided to spend a night before taking the drive to Bologna. I had dinner at Le Tournedos on Via Imperia, a very old traditional restaurant in Milan, and ordered the Angelo Negro, Angelin Langhe Nebbiolo which was moderately priced and had the nod of approval from the elderly gentlemen waiter. A nice ruby colour with red fruits and plums on the nose. It was perfect with the Linguine all’astice and of course a Bistecca alla Fiorentina.

Your favourite wine and food pairing?

Or Cognac… in January this year, I was invited to a Louis XIII private dinner in Shanghai. It was a remarkable dinner that paired Louis XIII throughout its six courses featuring crab salad, egg morel, crusty truffles, roasted lobster, and a smoked wagyu T-bone.

On a trip to Seoul to visit our duty free business in Korea, we had a traditional Korean BBQ meant only for regular customers. Korea prides itself on their special graded cow from which certain cuts of meat are meant for BBQ houses.

I could not believe how a 2014 Bottega Amarone paired so beautifully with grilled Kalbi (beef short rib ). I guess because the short rib had its marbling and the BBQ flavours went so well with a sweet dense Amarone.

Recently, I have been into Japanese sake with food pairings. In particular, sake from the Yamagata prefecture which has a slightly lower alcohol level of 12%. Given its fruity & citrus aroma and medium bodied savoury finish, generally I have paired it with a pan-fried foie gras, oven roasted figs or even with a sea urchin risotto.

Favourite restaurant for wine?

London Steakhouse Co. by Marco Pierre White on King’s Road. I’ve always been a great fan of Marco Pierre White, and as I was passing through London in 2016, I took the opportunity to catch up with an old army buddy of mine as he was working in the UK.

The restaurant had a fantastic selection of wine, and we had picked a bottle of Château Plaisance, Saint-Émilion. The striploin on the bone on the menu caught my attention as not many restaurants offered this cut. It paired superbly well with the Château Plaisance.

Another favourite is Nusr-Et Steakhouse in New York. I had missed the chance on a previous trip to visit the restaurant. The restaurant has a fantastic bar, a very good choice of cuts of steaks to choose from, and a very extensive wine list. I started with a cocktail at the bar while waiting for the table and I had the Istanbul Steak which was a 10 oz thick cut striploin, paired with a Pio Cesare Barolo, Piemonte.

What is the wine you have enjoyed most in your life?

I would say it’s the wines from Pomerol in Bordeaux – they still get to me to this very day. In the mid-90s, Asia caught the Bordeaux bug, and everyone was buying up 100-point wines. I attended a Christie’s auction where a case of 1982 Château Le Pin hammered for £24,000 and made history that day.

Robert Parker would quote these famous notes of his on the Le Pin: “Concentrated figs, Blackberry, Crème de cassis.” I had to get hold of some. I ended up with a case of 1985 Château Le Pin a few months later.

After settling down the case, I took out a bottle to try on the weekend and it was to be paired with a bone-in ribeye roast. The cork was removed slowly and I went off to get a decanter. Upon returning to the dining room ten minutes later, the whole room was literally filled with scents of florals, herbs, and an almost perfume-like fragrance.

What an incredible bouquet it had, reminiscent of a great Burgundy, immensely dense with berries and such a silky smooth finish. Two bottles of the ’85 Le Pin remain in my collection to this very day.

I’m granting you two special wine wishes. 1) A visit to a winemaking region and within it a personalised tour and tasting of one winery. 2) If you could choose one red and one white wine from anywhere for your ultimate dinner party, and any vintage what would they be?

For 1) it has to be Burgundy, and it would be a personalized tour of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. I’ve always been curious about the Burgundy region and every chance I get in a wine store or ordering from a menu would be towards a Burgundy.

Burgundies have these incredible scents of florals, fruits and spices. It’s like scents of perfume on every sip of Burgundy! I have tried the Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vosne-Romanée and Échezeaux over the years.

For 2) as I have mentioned my fondness for Pomerols earlier, I would select Château Certan de May for the red. With notes of ripe berries, dense black fruits, plummy and truffles, I am sure it will be a big favourite over dinner. Certan de May is a tiny vineyard set in-between Château Pétrus and Vieux Château Certan. Vintages selected could be the ’88 or ’90 if I can even find some because of its rarity.

For the white, I would like to go for a Puligny-Montrachet where you cannot miss the buttery notes, with hints of apples and tangerines. But to add a little excitement to the dinner, the 1993 Kistler Vineyards Dutton Ranch from Sonoma County boasts the same concentrated buttery richness, ripe fat apples as a possible Montrachet to bring back fond memories of weekend visits to Napa Valley.

PART TWO – WHISKY

Let’s switch beverage. You’re also a fan of fine whisky. How did that journey start and evolve?

This occurred during my move to China to start the luxury fashion business in 1999 onwards. Lots of travelling was involved, as the buying for each collection revolved around the four seasons.

London Heathrow would be my favourite connection to other parts of Europe. With time to spare, one couldn’t help but wander around the World of Whiskies. Every trip, I would pick up a bottle of two from recommendations of friends. My three picks were always a Laphroaig and The Macallan on Europe sectors, and an occasional Nikka while passing through Narita.

But, it was also having a group of expat friends who are big whisky drinkers. I learnt a lot from their selections over dinner and drinks after. I think as time went on the selections were based on having tried a glass or two at a whisky bar, and later trying to find something similar during my travels.

Scotch whisky vs rest of the world? Any preference?

In the early years, I believe Johnnie Walker and Chivas Regal were pretty much the mainstream whiskies in Asia. But that has definitely changed now with Asia going after single malt whiskies. Japanese whiskies have gone up tremendously in price because of the demand, and I remember there was a time when you could easily find a Yamazaki or Hibiki 18 years, but not anymore.

Scotch whisky makes up 90% of my collection and I prefer a good single scotch whisky where each has a very distinctive taste and character to another. The thrill of opening a bottle of whisky is finding out its character, where you try to find the hints of tangerine, fruits, leather to a hint of spice, toffee, caramel, and even a whiff of espresso.

A very interesting whisky I tried early this year was Le Breuil, Whisky De Normandie. A single malt, golden yellow colour and delightful citrus notes. American Bourbons are also a favourite.

Single malt vs blends?

I would say single malts over blends as I’ve grown to appreciate the Scotch regions. Not all though, maybe because I started with the peaty ones, and acquired the fondness for the distinctness of a Laphroaig and a Bowmore, which was followed later with lighter ones like anCnoc or a Balbair.

I was recently gifted with a Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare Pittyvaich. The bottle is enclosed in a beautiful box packaging with two limited-edition whisky glasses. It has reactivated my curiosity in blended whiskies.

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare Pittyvaich draws on rare casks from the legendary Speyside ‘ghost’ distillery of Pittyvaich, which closed its doors in 1993 after only 19 years of operation

I had a chance to open a bottle of Chivas Regal Mizunara, which has been matured in Mizunara oak cask. It was fruity with hints of vanilla and peaches, and I was actually very impressed with the taste.

Mellow and smooth, the Mizunara has a distinctive finish. Also, Dewar’s has a cask series with four variations using the ‘smooth’ title. I sampled Dewar’s Japanese Smooth with a Mizunara oak cask finish which was a delightful pour during a weekend afternoon barbeque luncheon.

Favourite Scotch whisky regions?

My palate lies predominantly with Highland, Island, Islay and an occasional Speyside.

Highland favourites: Dalmore, Royal Lochnagar, Oban, AnCnoc, Balblair and Royal Brackla

Island favourites: Arran, Jura and Highland Park

Islay favourites: Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Caol Ila and Bowmore

Most memorable whisky moment in travel retail?

I could mention a few stories of bars during my travels or even walking past some of the whiskies on display at TFWA, but I would like to share this particular story which happened in Sydney, Australia in 2018.

Seeing that I was the only one that played golf in the travel retail team, the office signed me up for the Lagardère Travel Retail Golf Day. I had assumed it was a round of golf and getting to meet the management and fellow counterparts. How wrong I was!

Most of the liquor brands were sponsors of the tournament. We had a beautiful sunny afternoon tee-off and hole no.1 got off to a perfect start. We then approached hole no.2, when we were greeted by the Kahlua espresso martini tent and the rule was to have a drink at each hole.

By the fourth hole, we were met by the Fireball Cinnamon Whisky team all dressed as fireball mascots. Shots of whisky were placed on a long wooden ladle for each of us, and together we had to finish the shots as a team at one go.

I could safely say golf went downhill from then onwards. After nine holes, we were not in good shape at all and we were further met by Bacardi, Jose Cuervo, Four Pillars Gin, Penfolds and Maker’s Mark towards the finish. A truly fun and memorable day on the course.

Now to the really difficult choices: 1) The best whisky you have tried in your life. 2) The whisky you would serve at that dinner party we discussed earlier.

(1) I have always been fond of the Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old. However, the 1997 Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition would be to me the best I have tried to date. It was opened during a simple gathering of friends over the weekend for dinner, drinks plus smokes. Bottles of The Glenlivet 21 Year Old, Lagavulin Offerman Edition finished in Guinness casks and the 1997 Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition were savoured after dinner with cigars.

The 1997 Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition was on a different level. Finished in sherry casks, it was full of sweet berries, honey and a hint of smokiness. I am saving what’s left in the bottle for another occasion.

(2) This story started with me purchasing a travel retail 1 litre bottle of Shackleton that pays tribute to Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expeditions to the Antarctic, where he took 25 cases of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whiskey.

Eleven of the original bottles were found at the campsite much later on. It was then that (Whyte & Mackay) Master Blender Richard Paterson took one of the original bottles and started recreating the original blend by combining the best of Highland malt whiskies.

As a result I started noticing The Dalmore and the Master Blender behind it, Richard Paterson. The bottles were beautiful to look at while browsing through duty free stores during my travels. I’ve tried The Dalmore over the years and I have to say the 15 Year Old matured in sherry cask is my favourite with its orange notes.

Now to the question of what to be served at this dinner. My pick would be The Dalmore Fortuna Merita Collection where sherry casks are used to mature the range. It was a travel-exclusive range, and the collection consisted of three bottles – each with its particular blend and reflecting the heritage of The Dalmore.

The Fortuna Merita, meaning ‘Fortune favours the brave’ would be a perfect trio to serve throughout the dinner, each paired with a course during the meal. The Dalmore Valour, which is finished in American white oak and sherry casks could be paired with starters and appetisers.

The Dalmore Regalis has notes of honey and fruits which could pair with the main courses. Finally, The Dalmore Dominium which has also been finished in American oak and 30 Year Old Sherry cask. These honey, caramel and sherry notes could well end with the desserts.

PART THREE – CIGARS

Well we’ve been enjoying some great wine and whiskies. Time for a cigar, I think. Let’s kick back and talk about your cigar journey

The cigar journey started in the mid-90s when the surge of Bordeaux wines began in Asia. Always after a good dinner paired with great wines, the evening would end with a good cigar and a brandy.

Over many years of travel, every chance I get walking past a cigar store on La Ramblas in Barcelona or even through some of the major airports like Charles de Gaulle and Zürich, I would pick up a box or two.

One of the prize cigars in the collection is the Cuban Davidoff Dom Pérignon dating to 1980 which was auctioned at Christie’s in the mid-90s. I am told that these days just one stick alone is around £1,000 pounds sterling.

Then there are the vintage Cohibas, one box of the Esplendidos and Lancero dating back to the mid-90s.

Best cigar experience?

The story goes back to the fascination of the Trinidad cigar (pictured right) and President Fidel Castro.

Cohiba (1966 ) and Trinidad (1969 ) were created three years apart and Castro used to give away cigars as his personal gifts, mostly with the Cohiba label. Originally, the Trinidad came in one size, Laguito No.1, which was similar to the Cohiba Lancero. Trinidad Fundadores are also used for diplomatic gifts.

The Fundadores is a beautiful aromatic smoke, milder but so balanced, sweet like honey and floral, herbal notes. Made with the finest tobacco, it’s truly a connoisseur’s cigar. It was this exact cigar that got me into cigars and a Trinidad follower.

Other Trinidad smokes would be the Ingenios Limited Edition 2007 and Coloniales, which are incredibly balanced cigars. Every chance I get, or when I see Trinidad offerings at the airport, I will pick up a box or two.

And your regular favourites?

Bolivar, because they are robust and have this distinct strong tobacco flavour. The finish is somewhat of a sweet earthy note. My recollection of the first few tries of the Bolivar was my head spinning after smoking it halfway. It takes time to get used to a Bolivar. My favourites are the Belicosos Finos and the Churchill.

Partagas, because of its consistency in making cigars. Every cigar is a well-made roll with its mild to strong peppery finish. Favourites are the Serie D No.4 as it is the perfect robusto in my opinion.

Romeo y Julieta, for its fruity, floral, coffee, vanilla finish. A milder smoke for me and another well-balanced smoke. One of my very first smokes was a Romeo y Julieta Churchill. Took quite a while to finish but memorable. These days it would be a Romeo Short Churchill or a Piramides.

No shortage of fine cigars in the Leong humidor to accompany those great wines and whiskies

What whisky and wine would you drink with your choice?

I always look forward to a glass of port wine together with the cheese board selection. Preferably a Taylor’s 30 Year Old or 40 Year Old Tawny Port. I find Tawny Ports have a balanced sweetness of dried raisins and caramel that complements a cigar.

For a whisky, I would go for the Arran Port Cask Finish to go with my cigar. Perfect match with most cigars as it has a creamy, berry finish to it.

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