The design is a celebration of the artistry, craft and care that went into the single malt it encases. Its unique form represents Gordon & MacPhail’s history of repeatedly pushing the boundaries in terms of long-term whisky maturation, where experimentation, patience, and quality have remained the foundations for progress since 1895.
The creative theme for the ground-breaking release - ‘Artistry in Oak’ – bears tribute to both the precious and rare liquid, carefully nurtured in an oak cask by four generations of the family that owns Gordon & MacPhail, as well as its stunning presentation. Never before has oak and single malt spirit been combined for eight decades and the historic liquid has been described by renowned whisky writer Charlie Maclean as “truly, one of the finest I’ve ever encountered.”
“Oak is a primary material, produced from the planet,” explains David Adjaye. “I appreciate its preciousness as an integral part of the whisky-making process. I wanted to create a design that pays tribute to the role oak plays in transforming liquid into an elixir with almost magical properties.”
The jewel-like decanter contains lenses to provide focus on the richly coloured liquid. A generous volume of crystal balances both heft and delicacy, and provides a beguiling, tactile presence.
“The gentle combination of liquid, weight and form invokes a sense of care, responsibility and slowness. As you pour, a sense of time fades and all that is understood is the preciousness of each drop,” adds Adjaye.
Designed to appear as hewn from a single solid block of crystal, the decanter’s curving core needed to be individually hand-blown by experienced artisans overseen by Glencairn Crystal Studio, experts in ultra-premium decanters and another family business based in Scotland.
The oak pavilion is constructed from sustainably sourced oaks grown less than five miles from makers, Wardour Workshops, another family-owned company, based in Dorset, South West England.
Public showcases of the Gordon MacPhail Generations 80YO decanter and oak pavilion will be exhibited from early September 2021 in Sotheby’s historic galleries on New Bond Street in London, at Sotheby’s HQ in New York on the Upper East Side at Sotheby’s HQ on Pacific Place, and at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre as part of the company’s 2021 Hong Kong Autumn Sales Series preview exhibition.
