Luxury brand the just unveiled two new whiskies as part of its ongoing Luminary Series. One is an ultra-aged 52-year-old single malt, a bottle of which will only be available to purchase at auction. The good is that the other is a 17-year-old single malt that is even better than that rarity and is being released in a run of 20,000 bottles globally.
The is a Highland distillery that was founded in 1839 and is currently owned by Whyte & Mackay, a Scottish company that also owns Jura, Tamnavulin, and Fettercairn (which launches here in the U.S. later this month). The distillery, led by master distiller Richard Paterson OBE (nicknamed the Nose), is known for its portfolio of high-end single malts that are often finished in sherry, port, and other fortified wine casks. This is the third edition of the , which launched in 2023 as a collaboration with V&A Dundee, the well-known design museum in Scotland. Each edition has gotten progressively older—the first consisted of whiskies aged for 48 and 15 years, the second of whiskies aged 49 and 16 years, and No. 3, as mentioned before, is a pair of whiskies aged for 52 and 17 years.
The Luminary 2025 Edition – The Rare is the name of the 52-year-old, and it was aged in a wide variety of casks before bottling. The whisky was initially matured in an ex-bourbon barrel before being transferred to a vintage 1980 calvados cask (a type of French apple brandy). This was something of a risk, because according to the distillery that was before that type of cask was approved by the Scotch Whisky Association in 2019 (they likely had a clue this change was coming). After that it went into the following casks for finishing before bottling—1940 Colheita port, tawny port, 40-year-old Pedro Ximénez sherry, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine. Only two decanters designed by architect and designer Ben Dobbin were produced, and both come inside a unique bronze sculpture. One will be on display at the distillery, the other will be up for auction at Sotheby’s until May 16, with all of the proceeds going to benefit V&A Dundee. We were lucky enough to sample this rare whisky, and notes of ripe tropical fruit lead the way followed by vanilla, maple, dark chocolate, and brown sugar flavors.
The second whisky is called Luminary No.3–2025 Edition – The Collectible. It’s a 17-year-old single malt that was initially aged in ex-bourbon barrels before being finished in a slightly different assemblage of casks—calvados, vintage calvados (1989 and 1999), Matusalem sherry, Apostoles sherry, red wine from Bordeaux and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and ex-bourbon. This is a superb whisky and a peak expression of Dalmore, arguably the superior whisky of the two with notes of cotton candy, cherry, grape, butterscotch, and a variety of baking spices. This whisky, as mentioned before, is much more widely available with 20,000 bottles being released in key markets throughout the world (SRP $400). And if you’re looking to sample some other Dalmore expressions, ranging from the affordable 12-year-old to the expensive 45-year-old, you can purchase them at now.
Authors
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Jonah Flicker
Credit: robbreport.com
