The Dalmore Releases Its Luminary Collection No. 3

The third installment within the ongoing Luminary Collection of Scotch whiskies by The Dalmore is basically a story of two whiskies. One, a 52-year-old single malt, ranks among the many rarest launched by the distillery, which was established in 1839. The opposite, a 17-year-old, shall be simpler to search out and undoubtedly far inexpensive. Nevertheless, each expressions are making historical past as the primary Dalmore whiskies completed in Calvados casks to ever be made out there.

For those who’ve ever puzzled why there aren’t extra Scotch whiskies completed in Calvados casks, the reply is easy and maybe stunning: it’s solely been authorized since 2019. That’s when the Scotch Whisky Affiliation loosened its restrictions on barrel-finishing and permitted casks that had previously held the French apple brandy for use. The Dalmore, the famed Highland distillery that has been in operation since 1839, had been experimenting with Calvados-finished whiskies earlier than the rule change, however the Luminary Collection No. 3 — 2025 Version is the primary time the general public will get to style them.

The primary bottling, often known as “The Uncommon,” lives as much as its identify, with solely two bottles produced. One will reside completely in The Dalmore archives, whereas the opposite shall be unveiled on the Venice Biennale of Structure previous to its public sale at Sotheby’s, with the proceeds going to help V&A Dundee, Scotland’s design museum.

Architect Ben Dobbin, who, with the Foster + Companions structure agency, helped design Apple Park in California, created a bespoke sculpture to carry the specifically designed decanter. In a phrase, the sculpture will be described for instance of “tensegrity,” an architectural time period defining a design that makes use of parts of compression and pressure. “With the sculpture you see bronze rods attract to and lean out from a wood pedestal, which is the place the Dalmore decanter is positioned — as if suspended in area,” Glass observes. “It’s unbelievable since you can not fairly see how it’s achieved.”  

Dobbin’s work with The Dalmore prolonged to the whisky itself as effectively, involving a three-way collaboration with Paterson and Glass. “Ben had already began his whisky journey previous to the mission,” Glass says.

“What was sensible truly was not solely the immersion we had with Ben Dobbin at The Dalmore distillery, however the whole immersion he undertook with the place,” Glass added. “Scotland, the rolling Highlands, the Forth Street Rail Bridge, all performed their affect in what we created collectively. In some methods you possibly can take as a right the fantastic thing about the place we make our whisky — and Ben got here with a contemporary perspective.”

Along with 1980 classic Calvados casks, the 52-year-old whisky has been matured in quite a lot of uncommon previous casks that beforehand held a number of totally different spirits, together with 1940 Colheita Port, uncommon Tawny Port, 40-year-old Pedro Ximénez Sherry, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine. The opposite aspect of the Luminary Collection coin, often known as “The Collectible,” is a extra accessible model of The Uncommon, with 20,000 bottles out there globally. 

The casks used to mature The Collectible aren’t as uncommon or as previous as these used for The Uncommon; nonetheless, they do embrace casks that previously contained classic and aged Calvados, Matusalem and Apostoles sherry, purple wine casks from Bordeaux and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and totally matured American white oak. The Collectible is aged for a complete of 17 years. 

The flavour profile of The Collectible was meant to enrich that of The Uncommon, whereas additionally being extra accessible to whisky lovers when it comes to availability and pricing. “Each launch of The Dalmore is an expression of our unbelievable home model,” says Glass. “What’s nice with every version of the Luminary Collection is we will discover that model twice…. For Version No. 3 we had prolonged conversations not solely about pear tatin, inexperienced tea, and purple apples, however of the precise sort of style profile for every of those who Ben had envisioned. What’s unbelievable is that Ben actually understands style, and needed to find out how Richard and I create an expertise of style by means of our whisky.”

Glass is happy with how the Calvados cask maturation turned out. “One of many joys of the mission was to have alternative to experiment with the flavour traits of casks which can be unusual within the trade. Not solely did we discover Calvados, however we had two classic casks, and a youthful parcel which supplied totally different taste nuances for the recipe. The important thing query grew to become, not about what my expectation was as a whisky maker, however on whether or not it had the potential to ship the best sort of apple be aware, and style expertise Ben, Richard and I have been in search of.”

It can undoubtedly be tempting for the winner of the only real bottle of The Uncommon to maintain it pristine and unopened. However Glass says he created each expressions of the Luminary Collection No. 3 to be consumed and loved: “One of many greatest joys for me is the second of enjoyment, whether or not or not it’s one or 1,000-plus bottles… for me, a whisky is simply full when it’s loved by our followers.”