A Scotch in a Decanter Designed By a Famous Artist Just Sold for $200,000 at Auction

The Glenturret’s “Eight Decades” fetched $200,000 at auction. (Photo: The Glenturret)

On Monday, The Glenturret announced that its Eight Decades whisky, a collaboration with the artist James Turrell and artisan glass company Lalique, broke records at Sotheby’s in New York by selling for $200,000 at auction. All of the proceeds are set to be donated to Friends of the Roden Crater.

In May, The Glenturret announced the release of the limited-edition decanter right around Turrell’s 80th birthday. The artist known for his work with light and space chose to collaborate with the whisky brand and glass company on the release, meant to honor his eight decades of life. The minimalistic decanter featured a blue pyramid-shaped stopper that was inspired by the ancient Egyptian pyramids. Just 80 decanters exist.

The auction house put decanter #008 up for auction, and it was filled with whisky raised under the stewardship of The Glenturret’s Whisky Maker, Bob Dalgarno. Some of Turrell’s design sketches were included with the decanter and the winner received a visit to Lalique’s factory in Alsace and a trip to The Glenturret’s distillery in Scotland.

“What a way to end the year! When we first launched Eight Decades in May, we knew it was a very special decanter — working with James Turrell was truly an honor,”  The Glenturret Managing Director John Laurie said in a news release. “We feel the decanter blurs the lines between art and whisky, and the auction result is a testament to that.”

The Glenturret refers to itself as Scotland’s oldest working distillery and has been making whisky since 1763. During the production process, Master Blender Bob Dalgarno had multiple conversations with Turrell where the artist revealed he was a scotch aficionado.

Dalgarno drew whisky from eight different casks with dates ranging from 1987 through 1998. The casks were meant to mark the different chapters of the eight decades of Turrell’s life.

Friends of the Roden Crater is a non-profit partnership of the Turrell Art Foundation. The organization was founded to support both the construction and operation of the Roden Crater and to ultimately open the installation to the public.

“We’re particularly happy with the result as all proceeds are going to charity,” Laurie concluded.

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