Following on from the first two editions, The Dalmore once again partnered with a renowned luminary to bring the worlds of art, design and whiskymaking together. This year, it was the turn of Fosters + Partners and artist-cum-architect Ben Dobbin, who designed a unique bronze statue to complement an equally precious 52-year-old Scotch whisky.
Known as ‘The Rare’, the 52 Year Old lives up to its name. The Dalmore produced just two bottles of this liquid, and they will keep one in the distillery’s permanent archive. The other bottle (and accompanying sculpture) is up for auction with Sotheby’s in Hong Kong. Bidding is open until Friday, May 16, with no reserve. The low estimate is HK$800,000 (approx US$$102,000) and all the money generated from the sale will go to the V&A museum in Dundee.
If that number feels a little punchy, it isn’t. This is the oldest Dalmore currently available for purchase from the distillery and the oldest in the Luminary Series. It is, for all intents and purposes, a one of one. No one will ever own the same bottle of whisky. This will be the crown jewel in someone’s collection. Once it leaves the auction market on Friday, it’ll be unlikely to come back. Even in a market suffering from over-saturation, a genuinely rare bottle will always hold value.
Beyond its collectibility, you will also be getting something that has taken skilled artisans over three years to develop. Dobbin first visited The Dalmore in 2022, where he was given the same brief as his predecessors. The sculpture is wildly different than editions one (read our coverage here) and two (and here), drawing on his professional experiences and creative expertise to design something that can hold its own in an art gallery and at the International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, where Luminary No. 3 was unveiled.
Dobbin’s visit to the distillery proved crucial to the project. He found inspiration in the Highland landscape surrounding the distillery, although not, as you would assume, the charismatic mountains. He was more taken with the geometry of its old bridges and the natural movement of nearby lochs. That resulted in an asymmetric bronze sculpture that plays with contrast: smooth curves offset by angular brass rods. The structure follows the principles of tensegrity, where compression and tension work in harmony to strengthen something that appears fragile.
The whisky also required exact measurements to find harmony. Originally taken from American oak barrels, the whisky was split into six different casks, including Calvados, Colheita port, Tawny port, PX sherry and Châteauneuf-du-Pape red wine. All are rarely used in whiskymaking, but Calvados casks were only approved for use by the Scottish Whisky Association in 2019, making this one of the very few ultra-aged whiskies to have been aged in one.
I tried a small sample of this exceptionally rare whisky in Venice and was taken with the intense sweetness on both the nose and palate. Bottled at 40.3% ABV (right at the lower limits for a Scotch), it is perfect for drinking without water. The aroma is full of baked fruits, particularly apples and marmalade. There are hints of age in there as well, such as dunnage warehouse and worn leather. On the palate, there’s more baked apples, spiced rhubarb and dark chocolate. The long finish is full of sweet bitterness, like loose tea leaves and liquorice.
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For those unwilling to part with six figures, the Luminary No. 3 Collectible edition is far more palatable from a cost point of view, and equally palatable in a literal sense. The 17 Year Old has benefited from an equally complex multi-cask finish that includes sherry, red wine and Calvados casks. This younger sibling offers more vibrancy and sweetness, including lashings of sweetened vanilla and fresh orange peel. The Luminary No. 3 Collectible will be widely available at an SRP of $400.
You can bid on The Dalmore 52 Year Old Luminary No.3 – The Rare by clicking here. Bidding closes Thursday, May 15, 11:01pm EST. Sale proceeds will support the operation and development of the V&A Dundee.