Only 2 Editions of This 48 Year Whisky Housed in a Sculpture Exist — and 1 is Heading to Auction

The Dalmore The Luminary No. 1 The Rare is a 48-year-old single malt whisky housed in a sculpture designed by V&A Dundee architect Kengo Kuma. (Photo: The Dalmore)

In September, Scottish whisky brand The Dalmore released an extremely rare whisky collaboration with Scottish design museum V&A Dundee. The Luminary No. 1 The Rare is composed of a bottle of 48-year-old single malt whisky housed in a sculpture designed by V&A Dundee architect Kengo Kuma.

Only two complete editions of The Luminary No. 1 The Rare exist. One will remain at the distillery in Highland, and the second is going to auction at Sotheby’s in London Luxurious Magazine reported Thursday.

Per Luxurious Magazine, the estimated selling range of the sculpture is £95,000 ($106,678)-£180,000 ($202,127). However, sometimes those projected ranges prove not to be accurate. Earlier this month, a bottle of the world’s oldest whisky went for £300,000 ($336,912) at a Sotheby’s auction after being projected to sell for between £110,000 ($123,534) and £200,000 ($224,608).

Bidding will open Nov. 1, and a portion of the sale’s proceeds will go to V&A Dundee.

“Working with The Dalmore always brings new surprises as their creativity seemingly knows no bounds,” Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s Head of Whisky & Spirits, North America and EMEA, said, according to Luxurious Magazine. “The Luminary is not simply an extremely rare bottle, but one of exceptional quality with an exquisite design lovingly put together by Richard and Kuma. This is Sotheby’s third partnership with The Dalmore in recent years and there is no better way to close out our 2022 auctions in London than with this marriage of whisky and design.”

The sculpture is made of 48 diamond-shaped pieces of Scottish oak, Japanese oak and metal.

A third bottle of The Dalmore The Luminary No. 1 exists without the sculpture. Per Luxurious Magazine, that bottle will be available as part of a future release.

Here at Whiskey Raiders, we do more than write about current events in Whiskey. We are the only media property reviewing whiskeys and aggregating the scores and reviews of other significant voices in the whiskey world in one place. We also scour the internet daily in search of the best whiskey deals out there. If you’re interested in having a great whiskey deal and the latest news and reviews delivered to your inbox each morning, sign up for our Daily Deal Newsletter!