Elite Traveler HRS 2024

DISCOVER

THE EIGHT DECADES SCOTCH The Glenturret has taken advantage of its familial ties with Lalique for its most exclusive — and most expensive — whisky to date. The Eight Decades Scotch whisky is presented in a Lalique crystal decanter designed by acclaimed visual artist James Turrell, and priced at £80,000 ($100,000). Contact privateclient@theglenturret.com

elite traveler HOTELS, RESORTS &SPAS2024 28

Wine & Spirits by Alex Martin

This image and below The Glenturret Distillery is the oldest working distillery in Scotland; the 2023 Core Release

IN WITH THE OLD There are two types of whisky distillery in Scotland: ones that produce single malt whiskies and ones that don’t. The first, like The Macallan, Glenfiddich and Bowmore, have strong identities and global followings. The latter… don’t. They work quietly in the background, churning out millions of gallons of whisky every year for blends like Johnnie Walker and Chivas Regal. The Glenturret Distillery is making the rare migration from the latter to the former. Existing in some form since 1763, The Glenturret is the oldest working distillery in Scotland. In that time it

straight to work, producing a range of core age statement products from a 10 Year Old to a 30 Year Old in elegantly redesigned decanters. But a distillery with as long a history as The Glenturret naturally had small parcels of high-aged whisky, and it didn’t take long for the first ultra-luxury product to emerge. The Glenturret Trinity is the first ultra-premium series from the distillery. It will, once finished, be formed of three expressions drawn from some of its oldest casks and bottled in specially designed Lalique decanters. Provenance debuted in 2020 and Prowess followed in 2022. Passion will complete the triptych in 2024. There will be just 320 bottles of each, and you’ll only be able to buy them direct from the distillery’s private client division. When a distillery releases whiskies as old as these (Provenance and Prowess are both 33 Year Old age statements), it usually speaks to where it has been, but these point more to where The Glenturret is going. The quality of the decanters, the hand-carved presentation box and the price point (Prowess costs approximately $15,000) suggest an ultimate vision of creating a genuine luxury brand. theglenturret.com

has had numerous owners, with the latest, the Lalique Group, purchasing it from Edrington (owners of The Macallan and Highland Park) in 2019 in a joint venture with Swiss businessman Hansjörg Wyss. At the time of purchase, The Glenturret was home to the Famous Grouse Experience. It welcomed a lot of visitors, but much of the whisky from its one-and-only still went straight into the Famous Grouse blend. You could buy a Glenturret single malt, but you’d have to go a long way to get it. The Lalique Group obviously saw something special; it appears to have handed over a blank checkbook to develop a brand identity of its own. Lalique’s only previous foray into whisky was creating the decanters for the now much-vaunted Six Pillars series for The Macallan. And there’s no hiding the fact that they’re following the same playbook. First, they brought in Bob Dalgarno as the head whisky maker. Dalgarno had worked in The Macallan cellars for three decades, helping to elevate it to the pinnacle of premium Scotch whisky. He would have been largely familiar with The Glenturret stocks — which, like The Macallan, are largely formed of sherry-seasoned oak casks. He got

Photos The Glenturret Distillery