The Dalmore’s Luminary No. 3 marks end of an era

THE association of architects and whisky might just be an image of old people swirling it in a glass, but The Dalmore closed that gap with the Luminary Series where they worked closely with architects to develop whisky according to their tastes.

The Dalmore has had a collaboration with the V&A Dundee, Scotland’s design museum, since 2020, and the collaboration spun on the Luminary Series as its axis.

They started out in 2022 with The Luminary No. 1 Collectible 2022 (https://tinyurl.com/466zpb4y), a collaborative work between Kengo Kuma, designer of V&A Dundee and his protégé Maurizio Mucciola, in hand with Master Distiller, Richard Paterson OBE and Master Whisky Maker, Gregg Glass.

The Luminary No. 2 and No. 3 came after, with No. 3 released last year.

ON WHISKY AND ARCHITECTS
On June 3, The Dalmore made its Philippine debut at Newport World Resorts’ The Whisky Library. Emperador Inc., one of the business units of the Tan-led Alliance Global Group*, owns The Dalmore through its ownership of Whyte & Mackay.

The launch was helmed by George Schulze, The Dalmore Resident Whisky Expert for Asia, in a master class, where the Luminary No. 2 and No. 3 were tasted.

Luminary No. 2 was released in 2024, and was a collaboration with Melodie Leung of Zaha Hadid Architects. Matured in American white oak ex-Bourbon casks, the single malt is finished in Graham’s Tawny Port pipes and 30-year-old Apostoles Sherry casks, while Mr. Schulze pointed out the presence of peated Dalmore. This resulted in a light fruity and spicy scent, with a sizzling warm but pleasant flavor that we compare to a flamed plum pudding.

No. 3, released last year, was created in cooperation with Ben Dobbin of Foster & Partners architects (the designers of The Gherkin in London). The 17-year-old spirit, according to Mr. Schulze, was aged in a variety of barrels, including vintage and aged Calvados, rare Matusalem Sherry, rare Apostoles Sherry, select red wine casks from Bordeaux and Châteauneuf-du-Pape and fully matured American White Oak.

“When it comes to the Luminary expressions, it always comes down to the casks that are being used to create it,” he told BusinessWorld. “We go past our regular range of Dalmore casks; we go a little bit into our rare warehouses, and we select casks that represent the spirit of the architect,” he said.

While Luminary No. 1 served as a tribute to wood (which Mr. Kuma works with) through aging the whisky in different oaks from three continents (Asia, Europe, and North America), the stories behind No. 2 and No. 3 are a bit simpler. “I wish there was a story that was as complex as that for No 2. and 3. Numbers 2 and 3 was more of an artistic collaboration, and a flavor profile that represented the architect and the artist and what they’re doing.”

Mr. Glass worked with the architects and matched their personalities to the whiskies. For example, Mr. Dobbin, according to Mr. Schulze, has a preference for Bourbon (hence the ex-Bourbon casks), while Ms. Leung’s signature was the smoky peat in the whisky she collaborated on.

CASKS AND FLAVOR
“With these expressions, to accent the wood flavors and tannins, we bring out wine casks and red wine casks,” Mr. Schulze said. While the white woods used in oak barrels (which are required under regulation to be able to call a product Scotch whisky) lend vanillins (as in vanilla), he said that sherry casks lend dark fruit, cinnamon, spice, and nutmeg. Red wine casks lend depth of flavor and that of red berries.

“That all comes through. Whatever casks we’re using is kind of representative of the complexity in the whisky.”

Luminary No. 3 rounds out the series. “Sadly, this was really a three-part project,” said Mr. Schulze. “It becomes a collection, a limited series.”

The brand is about to be busy launching The Dalmore 17, which debuted in China earlier this year. Meanwhile, Mr. Schulze reminded us that each of the Luminary expressions only have 20,000 bottles around the world — and only 180 of them are in the Philippines. — Joseph L. Garcia

*Another unit, Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc., developed Newport — formerly Resorts World Manila.