The Dalmore Luminary No.2 | The Rare
The Dalmore Luminary Series is a unique partnership between The Dalmore and V&A Dundee, which celebrates the worlds of whisky mastery and architectural design over three high concept whisky releases. Melodie Leung, director at Zaha Hadid Architects is the esteemed talent and creative collaborator behind Luminary No.2, the second iteration of this partnership.
‘The Rare’ comprises a 49 Year Old Highland Single Malt, one of only three bottles to be made, uniquely housed in a striking glass sculpture, designed by Leung. The exquisite sculpture is made of one continuous piece of glass, which swirls and loops, inspired by and depicting the layers of age and the interactions of flavour found in the whisky making process and the whisky itself. The creation of this precious sculpture has taken hundreds of hours of work. When commissioning the glass work, only a handful of artisan markers across the world had the necessary experience and vision to manipulate the glass to deliver the desired form.
The Luminary Series - 2024 Edition - Partnership & Collaboration
“This was a true meeting of minds, and the new releases beautifully express the shared journey we’ve all been on in mastering our crafts. We are delighted to finally be sharing this exceptionally rare whisky and Melodie’s incredible creation with the world.”
Fiaz Elson from The Glass Foundry combined modern techniques with centuries-old craft to create the sculpture, placing it in kiln in a handmade mould, taking the glass to temperature before lowering one degree at a time across a tense 12 week period. Weighing a substantial 80kg, the sculpture’s liquid-like texture and gloss finish comes from over 500 hours of hand polishing.
‘The Rare’ whisky itself, is exceptional and was created in further true collaboration between Leung and The Dalmore’s master makers Gregg Glass and Richard Paterson OBE, as together they explored flavour and form, with inspiration ranging from childhood memories, to travel, food and music. This 49 Year Old Single Malt has been matured in American white oak ex-Bourbon casks and finished in an assemblage, encompassing a rare Port Colheita Pipe 1963, an exceptionally rare 30 Year Old Apostoles Sherry Cask and select Bourbon Barrels.
“The sculpture we created for The Rare was inspired by our fascinating discussions around the interaction and flow of flavour notes in the whisky-making process, including the unique silhouettes of the copper stills. It mirrors the multiple layers of ageing and blending that went into creating this whisky, which is the exquisite product of nature channelled over time.”
The whisky has been further finished in a unique 1951 / Virgin Oak hybrid cask, air dried at The Dalmore and bespoke toasted by Gregg Glass himself. Only three bottles and two sculptures have and will ever be created. Alongside the bottle and sculpture sold at auction, the second set will be displayed at The Dalmore distillery in the Highlands, with the third bottle released as part of a compendium of the series, in years to come. A designer proof of the sculpture will be on permanent display at V&A Dundee, joining the designers’ proof from Luminary No.1, released in 2022.
Proceeds from the sale will be donated to V&A Dundee.