For the previously uninitiated such as myself, entry into the world of whisky came naturally thanks to the cultural touchstone that is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, where Scottish whisky brand The Dalmore unveiled the third edition of its Luminary Series last week in partnership with V&A Dundee – Scotland’s very first design museum and the first prestigious Victoria & Albert museum outside London.
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In these capable hands, it’s easy to see how The Dalmore aims to cultivate a more cultured world, one drink at a time. In its over 180 years of making whisky in the Scottish highlands, the brand has sought to challenge the conventions of its craft and bring new meaning to that tricky term. While some may call cultured a state of being, others a state of mind, the curated, complex tastes involved in bringing The Dalmore’s latest release to life say something else entirely – to be cultured is less a choice and more a mandate to push the boundaries of what we think to be possible in today’s climate, to pursue thoughtfulness in everything we do.
That’s precisely what Ben Dobbin, this year’s luminary designer, had in mind when conceiving and developing the latest chapter of The Dalmore’s ambitious arts and design project. Dobbin built his sculpture using the principles of tensegrity, which essentially boils down to finding structure through tension – a delicate balance which applies to many other disciplines beyond architecture, including human anatomy, art history and now, whisky-making.
“Taste and smell are really rooted in some of your earliest memories,” says Dobbin, who grew up around apples and whisky-infused desserts. Unsurprisingly, both played a huge role in formulating the 52-year-old single malt whisky that is the 2025 Edition of The Rare. It is the oldest of the brand’s whiskies currently available for purchase and the oldest so far in the Luminary Series, which houses a blend of tastes and smells made possible only by its time spent maturing in exceptionally rare casks.
The aroma of warm spices like vanilla and cinnamon, which have become The Dalmore’s signature, opens up to deeper tasting notes of baked brioche, apricots and apples. The strictly limited-edition collectible version of the whisky, aged 17 years but no less refined in its palette, offers a hint at what this singular whisky has to offer for non-auction prices.