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Lauded by critics, the last of the 1948 cask will be up for grabs at the auction house.

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One of the rarest bottlings of this limited-edition Scotch can be yours through Bonhams this January.

A half-century is a milestone worthy of celebration on any occasion; in a world of ephemera, it's a marker of of quality. Of things that endure. Of things created to last. In love, 50 years is the Golden Anniversary; in Scotch, the continuation of a legacy, like for Highland Park, whose new 50 Year Old single malt celebrates the Orkney distillery's 223 years of excellence.

A style with rich, sherried dried fruit and sweet toffee, Highland Park 50 Year Old single malt Scotch Whisky comes in a limited-edition run of 274 bottles, each signed by Master Whisky Maker, Gordon Motion. And for serious Scotch lovers, the first of these bottles is hitting the Bonhams auction block on 21 January 2022, with an estimated worth of HK$210,000 to HK$250,000.

"This 50 Year old whisky is one of our oldest and rarest releases and I’m very proud to have been part of its journey," says Motion. "When I sampled it, it has absorbed the rich sherried flavours of dried fruit and sweet toffee from its final first-fill cask maturation, but still retained all the delicate fragrance and flavours driven by the original refill casks.”

Highland Park's third 50 Year Old single malt

Just the third 50 Year Old bottling in Highland Park history, every step of its creation has been intricately considered and measured to present the utmost delicate and rich flavours that a great whisky can offer. Created using a traditional solera system — a way of maturing sherry — the Scotch delivers richness and maturity of flavours both old and new.

For those unfamiliar with the solera system, the process borrows a small quantity of whisky produced from a previous batch, blending it with the new expression to capture flavours within a flavour — legacies within a legacy. Highland Park’s new 50 Year Old edition marries together a careful selection from nine refill casks from 1968, re-racked into fine first-fill sherry seasoned oak casks. After 12 years of maturation, one limited cask was chosen and blended with a minute portion of the previous 50 Year Old release by the distillery.

"I introduced a small quantity of this cask to some of our 2018 batch of 50 Year Old, to create a further layer of depth and complexity," adds Motion. "As the 2018 50 Year Old contains some of our 2010 batch, this approach allows me to maintain the core DNA of our oldest Highland park whisky through each extremely limited batch release."

The whisky auction market remains robust

Despite the impact of the pandemic, the whisky auction market has remained strong and has even engendered a following among young collectors, according to Daniel Lam, Specialist for Fine Wine & Whiskies at Bonhams.

"[Whisky] has become a mainstream category in almost all international auction houses," says Lam. "For Scotch, Japanese whisky and US bourbon, the market has nourished a group of very young collectors, which is a positive sign for the future of whisky auctions."

For Lam, Highland Park's 50 Year Old single malt Scotch Whisky makes an appealing auction piece for its legacy and presentation, as well as exclusivity of only 274 bottles.

"Each whisky distillery has it own unique premium bottling, and Highland Park, situated as the most northern distillery in Scotland, its style is very distinctive," says Lam. "I personally adore the packaging, the craftsmanship and the golden hand-crafted decanter."

Making green the new black

The upcoming charity auction is in support of Green Power, a renowned green group NGO addressing the diverse environmental issues in local communities such as climate change, waste reduction and biodiversity. All net proceeds from the auction will be donated to the organisation in support of their environmental education and sustainability projects.

"Bonhams plays a part in society, we value corporate social responsibility. Therefore, we would like to support Green Power for their good causes in addressing and mitigating environmental issues especially here in Hong Kong," says Lam, noting the importance of sustainable development for the future of whisky.

"There is a saying, 'green is the new black'; we ought to address the importance of sustainability to whisky distillers for long term development of the whisky industry," adds Lam. "Partnering with Green Power could bring awareness of 'being green' to whisky distillers."

A collector's piece

Not only is the whisky a time capsule of historical flavours, it comes in as l'objet d'art of its own: the heavyweight glass bottle is embossed with a design inspired by the Norse heritage of Orkney island, dating back over 1,200 years, coming packaged in a hand-made wooden box crafted by Scottish Master Craftsman John Galvin.

One of its exclusive 274 bottles is set to go up for auction on 21 January 2022, with an estimated worth of HK$210,000 to HK$250,000.

For more information, visit highlandparkwhisky.com.

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And at the prices it’s going for, the Yamazaki 55 is quickly becoming one of the most sought after bottles this year.

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Lovers of the grain will know that one of the paragons of luxury whisky is The Dalmore, a Scottish label with over 180 years of history that takes the proud stag’s head as its symbol. Literally and metaphorically, decades of know-how, culture and craftsmanship have been distilled into this one-of-a-kind release: the six-bottle The Dalmore Decades No 6.

Six exceptional and very limited-quantity single malts tell the story of The Dalmore’s alchemic craft and DNA across six decades, with the youngest being the turn of the millennium and the oldest dating back a remarkable 70 years to 1951.

“Each bottle marks a very special milestone in the brand’s history and has a unique story to tell,” says Dalmore master distiller and pioneer of cask curation Richard Paterson, who over the past 50 years has kept a watchful eye over a rich inventory of rare whiskies, “giving them the guidance to mature and reach their full potential in the finest casks sourced from around the world.”

The Dalmore’s new four-year partnership with the V&A Dundee Museum in Scotland – where they will celebrate their shared values of creativity, design, and vision – marks a new chapter of cultural collaborations at the Highland whisky label.

It kicked off with the premiere of Decades in the Making, a short film starring Japanese starchitect Kengo Kuma, who designed the V&A Dundee, and the Dalmore’s Paterson. Kuma’s protégé Maurizio Mucciola gave an in-person introduction to the remarkable architectural project, which was nine years in the making and is now a modern jewel in the Scottish cityscape.

A tour of the museum was followed by an exceptional VIP dinner and tasting experience that gave a select few a sip of five of the Dalmore Decade single malts. The 1979 in particular, which has matured through a Matusalem Oloroso sherry cask and a Graham’s Port 1952 Vintage cask, is a pure silky-smooth nectar with notes of toasted pistachio, pineapple and dates.

An auction of this exclusive Dalmore Decades No 6 set will take place at Sotheby’s Hong Kong from October 7 to 8 (along with several other collectable Dalmore sets), with a percentage of the sales being donated to the V&A Dundee.

Sotheby Hong Kong, 5/F, One Pacific Place, 88 Queensway; +852 2524 8121

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Today’s world of whisky is a complex one, with the spirit’s explosion in popularity bringing to light several different characters, from the simple drinker to the collector, the investor and the dreaded “whisky flipper”.

Wind the clock back 10 to 15 years, when things were less complicated. Sure, people collected whisky, drank whisky and invested in whisky, but these were simpler pursuits, and the hobby was significantly less mainstream. Japanese whiskies were still relatively unknown, new whisky releases didn’t cause websites to crash due to excessive traffic (or road blockages due to actual traffic), and overpriced, over-marketed and often immature whiskies were nowhere near as prevalent.

The meteoric rise in whisky’s popularity has, however, led to a number of positives, with most distilleries now offering a much larger range, “independent bottlers” (who buy casks from distilleries and bottle the spirit under their own label) increasing in prominence, and a sharp rise in “new world” or “world whisky” producers – which, interestingly, includes old-world wine countries such as France and Italy, alongside the likes of Australia, India and Taiwan.

So, where does this new-found mainstream popularity leave each category of whisky lover?

The Whisky Drinker

First of all, whisky drinkers – particularly those who’ve been enjoying whisky for a decade or more – may be frustrated by the current state of the market, with bottles they previously knew and loved either no longer available, or prohibitively expensive (Macallan 30-Year-Old, which was once available for a few thousand dollars, now commands prices of HK$45,000 – if you can find it at all). On the other hand, whisky drinkers are spoiled for choice, with an abundance of whiskies from distilleries new and old, large and small, to suit any budget. The surge in demand has also seen the opening of a number of bars in Hong Kong – Club Qing, House Welley and Tiffany’s New York Bar, for example – all serving whiskies to suit everyone from the most dedicated enthusiast to the rank beginner.

Lars Ruecker, director of F&B at the InterContinental Grand Stanford (home to Tiffany’s New York Bar), sees these changes impacting customers’ tastes. He notes “a shift in demand from mainstream whiskies towards smaller distillers, with a focus on craftsmanship as well as local-inspired bottles, either bottled in conjunction with an event or venue, or exclusively for an Asian market”.

The Whisky Collector

Whisky collectors – those who collect out of sheer passion and are often by definition whisky drinkers themselves – might say they have it good or bad, depending on which of them you ask. These days, the options available for collecting are immense, to the extent that some collectors focus almost exclusively on specific niches, such as English distilleries (Bimber especially, which is seeing enormous popularity despite only releasing its first whisky two years ago) and Australian whiskies (particularly those from Melbourne’s Starward and Sydney’s Archie Rose). Of course, there are still plenty of collectors with their sights set on rare vintage Scotch (most notably Macallan, Ardbeg, Springbank and Bowmore) and popular Japanese bottles (including Karuizawa, Hanyu, Yamazaki and Chichibu), but these endeavours now require deep pockets.

Although spirit auctions were held in Hong Kong long before the current popularity surge, the rise of online whisky auctions has been a good indicator of increasing collector demand, with tens of thousands of lots available monthly via a plethora of sites. Kam Daswani, managing partner of local whisky business Dram Good Stuff, actually sees the auction market driving demand for high-end bottles in retail too. “Led by large jumps in the auction market, clients are now not only looking to buy for immediate consumption, but are increasingly educating themselves to purchase also for long-term holdings,” he says.

It’s not just bottles that are being collected either. Whisky casks have become a popular choice, whereby an entire cask of whisky (most commonly 200 to 500 litres) is bought and either bottled, or left to further mature for bottling at a future date. Although ownership of casks from popular Scottish distilleries has become more difficult in recent years (a combination of increasing demand and decreasing supply), there’s a growing number of newer distilleries willing to sell a freshly filled cask to potential owners for a single up-front payment (for example, I bought a small cask of Archie Rose whisky to celebrate a family milestone). Turn-key cask purchases such as these (which include the spirit, cask, maturation/storage, insurance, bottling, labelling, taxes and shipping) differ from the traditional model, where the additional costs are often separate and at the owner’s (sometimes significant) expense. Cask ownership can be fun, but the industry is rife with tales of those who’ve overpaid or been scammed, so it pays to do ample research.

Garreth Christopher, a whisky lover who buys casks for personal enjoyment and to share with friends, likes Diageo’s Casks of Distinction, which are available from the drinks giant’s Scottish distilleries. “I own a few CoDs, because they can guarantee their sourcing and the liquid is just fantastic,” says Christopher, who recently bottled a 33-year-old from Dalwhinnie distillery.

The line between investors and collectors can often be a blurry one, but investors looking to make a return must ensure the whisky is unopened and kept under suitable conditions (upright, and away from sunlight and extreme temperatures). This category, too, has seen a surge in participants, and it’s not hard to see why when firms such as Knight Frank quote (via its Rare Whisky Index, which tracks rare Scottish single malts) a 586-percent growth over the past decade.

To put this growth into perspective, a pair of Ichiro’s Malt Hanyu “Jokers” bottles sold in 2017 for HK$122,000 at Bonhams; earlier this year, another two sold for HK$446,000 (and in November, a full set of 54 “Cards” bottles fetched HK$11.89 million). Two years ago, a bottle of 1926 60-year-old Macallan sold at Sotheby’s for £1.5 million, whereas in the late 2000s a similar bottle is said to have sold for “just” US$75,000.

These are extreme examples, but they do illustrate the popularity of whisky as an investment. Of course, as with casks, caution and research are important.

The Whisky Flipper

Last (and least) are the “whisky flippers”, despised by many in the whisky world but simply a function of the current state of the market. Flippers look to make significant financial returns in a short space of time by buying whiskies at retail prices when demand outstrips supply, and then selling for profit later. Flippers aren’t unique to whisky (just look at eBay shortly after a Supreme drop), and though they’re not going anywhere, at least some distilleries have made laudable efforts to deter them. Dornoch Distillery, for example, hides a Willy Wonka-esque “golden ticket” beneath the cork of one first-release bottle, which rewards the lucky purchaser with a free cask of whisky if it’s redeemed within two years – thereby encouraging the opening of the bottle and the consumption of at least some of its contents.

With so many changes in the whisky world, do whisky lovers have it better or worse today? As with many things in life, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. In the opinion of this author, it’s best simply to embrace it by sitting back, pouring yourself a dram and enjoying the scene for what it is today.

The post Kindred Spirits: A Profile of Whisky’s Many Personalities appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

When it comes to fine single malt Scotch whisky, we’ve come to expect distilleries to release expressions that are 20 or even 30 years old. A 50-year-old whisky, however — well, that’s something which makes us stop and take notice.

Last month, The Glenrothes made waves when it unveiled its oldest single malt whisky ever: A 50-year-old expression that was distilled in November 1968, followed by maturing in sherry and bourbon American oak casks until its bottling in September 2019. This was hardly everyday news for the Speyside distiller: Until now, The Glenrothes’ oldest single malt was a mere 25 years old. What’s more, this limited-release whisky comes in individually numbered crystal decanters, each one housed inside a stunning black-lacquered presentation case.

Not just anyone will be able to get their hands on this remarkable release, though, as only 50 bottles have been made available globally. Lucky buyers will become one of just 50 people globally to join ‘Fifty,’ an ultra-exclusive virtual club whose members will be invited to visit The Glenrothes Estate for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the distillery team and stay at the property’s spiritual home, Rothes House. Members will also receive an engraved membership card that matches the number of their bottle and grants access to an exclusive web portal where they can register their membership, see product release previews and more.

Whisky aficionados, take note: just one of these treasured bottles is hitting the auction block this month during Bonhams’ Fine & Rare Wine and Whisky sale on Friday, 20 November. The decanter in question, number 38 of 50, is estimated to fetch HK$230,000-300,000 (£23,000-30,000). All proceeds will be donated to a charity organisation based in the Asia-Pacific region.

So what can buyers expect from this incredibly rare whisky? “After half a century maturing in sherry bourbon oak casks, our 50-year-old single malt offers a unique blend of aromas with complexity that only a whisky of this age can deliver,” said Laura Rampling, Master Whisky Maker at The Glenrothes. “It is dark and fragrant, offering sweet and spiced flavours with a refined finish and gentle lingering of woody spices. On the nose, drinkers can expect hints of jasmine and cedar.”

[caption id="attachment_212129" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The Glenrothes Estate.[/caption]

“As our oldest ever release, this 50-year-old is a salute to the loyalty and craft of our distillery team, several of whom have over 40 years’ service,” said Kerr Arthur, Director of The Glenrothes brand. “They truly understand the art of whisky-making The Glenrothes way, and now 50 people will have the privilege of sharing in this milestone release.”

In advance of the auction date, we spoke to Rampling and Arthur to find out more about this exciting release, the historic legacy of The Glenrothes and how innovation will play a role in the future production of single malt Scotch whisky.

What makes The Glenrothes special?

Kerr Arthur: Our entire whisky-making process is underpinned by our Four Corners: water, distillation, wood and maturation. We start with our particularly soft water which is sourced on our distillery estate on Speyside. Our new-make spirit is nurtured in our tall copper stills for much longer than most whiskies and this creates a lighter, fruitier and more delicately flavoured spirit.

Maturation in sherry-seasoned oak casks plays a big part in creating great whisky especially for The Glenrothes as unlike many, our whiskies are always 100 percent natural in colour and that can only be achieved by investing in high-quality casks. It is this unique blend of science and alchemy which helps turn our new-make spirit into a world-class malt. Our whisky maker noses each and every cask individually and hand-selects those that are ready to be bottled.

What does this 50-year-old expression reveal about The Glenrothes’ style of whisky making?

Laura Rampling: We wouldn’t consider this whisky a ‘revelation,’ but rather an embodiment of The Glenrothes’ rounded and rich house style at an elevated level.

When was the decision made to release the 50-year-old and how was that decision reached?

Laura Rampling: The decision to create bespoke, collectible bottles can happen in different ways. Sometimes we have an idea for a new whisky and I go and seek the casks from which we can create a whisky in line with that idea. Other times, while reviewing existing whisky stocks, we discover fantastic special casks which can be utilised and we create something around that.

Alongside day-to-day whisky creation, we routinely nose and taste stock to identify whether we might have some casks which are special or remarkable. We learn to expect the unexpected. It was back in 2018 that we decided to launch a 50-year-old, having identified casks of that age which had exceptional characteristics.

[caption id="attachment_212130" align="aligncenter" width="767"] Laura Rampling, Master Whisky Maker at The Glenrothes.[/caption]

Should we expect to see any similar releases of limited editions from The Glenrothes in the future?

Kerr Arthur: We are constantly reviewing our stocks and planning future releases. There will certainly be more excellent whiskies coming out in the future. Based on the reaction to our 50-year-old so far, we would be very unpopular if we did not release further editions!

The 50 owners of The Glenrothes 50-year-old will be invited to the distillery. What are some of the special experiences they can look forward to there?

Kerr Arthur: Those who buy the 50-year-old will be given the opportunity to see behind the scenes at The Glenrothes. This is a rare and exclusive experience in itself, as the secluded estate — which includes the distillery, cooperage, private farms and Rothes House — is normally closed to visitors. I’m sure there will also be the opportunity to sample some truly special whisky.

Why is this the first time The Glenrothes has released a 50-year-old edition?

Laura Rampling: We wanted to do something that celebrated the loyalty and craft of our distillery team in Rothes and this 50-year-old is a celebration of their skill, passion and commitment. It’s also about being in the right place at the right time – a combination of having great whisky at the right age and customers wishing to buy it.

How do the packaging, membership card, and invite to The Glenrothes estate relate to how The Glenrothes wants to interact with customers?

Kerr Arthur: The 50-year-old packaging was designed to offer a special experience that reflects the significance of opening the distillery doors to a select group of buyers for the first time. We really do value relationships with people who buy our whiskies – it’s part of our community culture.

Inviting buyers of our 50-year-old to our home is a thank you to them and a symbol of The Glenrothes community they will be part of. Our Spirit of Rothes community is where we can talk to buyers more intimately and we want to continue to grow this community with members from across the globe.

[caption id="attachment_212131" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The Glenrothes Estate.[/caption]

How does the 50-year-old add to the whisky-making legacy of The Glenrothes?

Kerr Arthur: It’s our first and will therefore go down in our history as such. It also provides us with the confidence to create similar aged releases for the future which will be part of the legacy of our 50-year-old.

Laura Rampling: Our legacy is rooted in the tradition, skill and expertise of our team and our 50-year-old pays tribute to them. This is a hugely exciting chapter and as Master Whisky Maker I am looking forward to building on the legacy of The Glenrothes, honouring its history while helping create great new whiskies for our customers to enjoy.

What does the future hold for The Glenrothes? How will you embrace tradition vs. innovation?

Kerr Arthur: We have always sought to progress as a distillery and embrace the new if we feel it will enhance the whiskies we create. We will continue to do so but will never walk away from what we feel defines us: natural water sources, unusually slow distillation in tall stills, high-quality sherry-seasoned oak casks, 100 percent naturally coloured whiskies and the craftsmanship of our local community.

Laura Rampling: The Four Corners of our whisky-making process won’t change and we will continue to celebrate this tradition. We do things a bit differently and such a high-quality, traditionally handcrafted spirit will always demand attention.

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Label art by Sir Peter Black and Valerio Adami make these limited-edition bottles a collector’s dream.

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