How whisky became more Than just a drink
◆ As luxury collaborations get bigger and bigger Rosalind Erskine takes a look at some of the most recent partnerships in the whisky industry
As the tightrope artist takes the final tentative steps, before leaping from the almost invisible metal wire, the crowd turn their attention to the next performer. That performer is getting ready to scale the heights of the room via a vibrant red ribbon, where she’ll drop and flip in a series of graceful movements.
This is Cirque du Soleil and this show isn’t taking place in some glamorous Las Vegas ballroom, but a former dunnage warehouse on the sprawling Macallan Estate in Speyside. Created to mark the brand’s 200th anniversary, the SPIRIT show cost £200 per person and was one of the cheaper ways to enjoy some of Macallan’s famed whisky at a landmark moment in the distillery’s history.
This year the brand also teamed up with Bentley to launch the Horizon whisky the first horizontal whisky bottle, which is made from six materials; wood, copper, aluminium, leather, glass and, of course, the whisky inside of it.
Whisky broker and market analyst Mark Littler said: “The Macallan Horizon is perhaps a good indicator as to the direction of travel that the distillery is on. It's ultra premium. It's a luxury. There's very few people in the world that can afford $50,000 for a no age statement whisky. It's about the halo effect that those bottles have.”
The Balmoral hotel in Edinburgh has secured the rare whisky and has launched a one-off £100,000 ‘Horizon Whisky Experience’ that will be available from August. This launch is clearly not about the whisky, it’s a statement of wealth and luxury and it’s by far not the only one.
Islay single malt Bowmore teamed up with Aston Martin in 2020 to release Black Bowmore DB5 1964. This collaboration, of just 25 bottles, brought together an iconic whisky and a legendary car in a bottle of equal parts, featuring single malt whisky and a genuine Aston Martin DB5 piston.
First distilled on November 5, 1964, over the years Black Bowmore has become one of the rarest and most soughtafter single malt whiskies ever created. This release represented only the sixth bottling of this super rare single malt.
Since 1993, only around 6,000 bottles of Black Bowmore have been made available, which resulted in each one carrying a £50,000 price tag. The partnership has continued and, for £800 per person, fans of the whisky can tour its home in style with the Captivating Islay experience - a one-day trip in which guests will explore the island in a chauffeur driven Aston Martin DBX Bowmore Edition; a special edition of Aston Martin’s ultra-luxury SUV inspired by the island and Bowmore whisky. A tour of the coastline and woodlands are followed by lunch before an in-depth tour of the distillery, a visit to No.1 Vaults and the chance to hand fill an exclusive bottle of Bowmore from the cask.
These uber luxury launches, which by their nature are a one-off or ver y rare opportunity to own or try something that very few people can, are intended only for the very wealthy and are often tied to anniversaries or key dates in the distillery’s history. One of these is Fettercairn, an often overlooked Highland distillery, in the Whyte and Mackay family. Fettercairn turns 200 this year, as do many brands. And to celebrate, they’ve commissioned ten beautiful, bespoke, wood and copper cabinets, which house six rare whiskies - from 1964 right up to a 2021, three-yearold matured only in Scottish oak. It is a showcase of the distillery, a liquid history, and one can be yours for £100,000. The ten cabinets have been built by famed maker John Galvin, with the project two years in the making.
In the most recent episode of our multi-award winning podcast Scran, Mr Littler discussed when, and why, whisky went from a drink to a luxury lifestyle statement. He said: “I think around the year 2015 whisky shifted from being a drink to being a signifier of status. This correlates with all of the price increases and a lot of the brand collaborations as well.
“It's driven a lot over in Asia, where businessmen especially are very reserved in terms of their dress. They're often not outrageously dressed, like in Europe and in America. But if you can go to a place and you can put down an expensive bottle of Macallan, which is an instant signifier, it says something about you.”
It is a real testament to how single malt Scotch whisky is viewed, and revered, that the few that can are willing to spend so much on it as a status symbol. But it is also a complex debate, with many whisky ‘purists’ disparaging of the collectors and those who will never drink some of the oldest and rarest liquid available.
But as Mr Littler explained: “There’s a polar split between the drinkers and the investors. The drinkers all say that the investors and the collectors are bad. I get it, prices are going up. What people were drinking for £100 ten years ago, they're not getting anywhere near close to today.
I think around the year 2015 whisky shifted from being a drink to being a signifier of status
“But it's not just the people who are buying and investing and collecting these bottles [at fault]. They're reacting to products that are being put in the market.”
Put simply, whisky is a limited edition product, and no one wants to miss out, plus some of the best collaborations showcase how great art and design can elevate the appeal, much like how a Michelin Star restaurant’s ambience, service, plates and cutlery enhance the overall meal.
But the question remains - are we losing sight of whisky as a drink that’s created to be shared with loved ones? Mr Littler said: “I rate a whisky by how much fun I had drinking it because I could have drank the worst whisky in the world with my dad or with a good friend and had a really good night. Give me a 50-year-old Macallan on a beach with no one else to drink it with? No thanks.”