Floral artist Azuma Makoto partners with Glenmorangie on limited edition whisky

Botanical artist Azuma Makoto has been a friend of Glenmorangie for some time, having partnered with Dr Bill to create a limited edition whisky, Glenmorangie 18 Years Old, in 2021. Igniting an ongoing friendship between kindred spirits, Dr Bill and Azuma, the duo were walking at Glenmorangie when the idea of a second partnership sprang to life. Visiting the Highland Distillery and its picturesque landscape, Azuma called to mind a traditional Japanese concept – shinra bansho. Translatable as “all the things that exist in the universe without limit”, it encapsulated Azuma’s appreciation of the distillery’s natural surroundings and innate beauty, and sparked the theme for the second partnership release from the pair.

Introduced to this notion by Azuma, Dr Bill set out to capture it within a limited-edition bottling. The resulting 23 year old single malt entwines Glenmorangie’s floral side with the underground world of damp soil, roots, and growth. The whisky features a classic Glenmorangie, long aged in bourbon casks, heady with aromas of lemon balsam and orchids, united with Glenmorangie’s first whisky ever finished in casks which once held Chardonnay white wine from the Meursault appellation in Burgundy. The result is a rich and mellow whisky, with notes of moss dampened by rainfall, burning oak and earthy scents of the forest floor. Back in his Tokyo studio, Azuma tasted the whisky and considered how to capture the essence of the Scottish Highlands within a botanical display. Gathering orchids, roses and countless wild flowers from Scotland and around the world, he skillfully wove them through tree bark, roots and moss. His resulting work uses almost 100 different varieties of flowers and plants, and is featured across the collaboration on the gift box and labels. It is a tribute to the Highlands and reflects the layered depths of the whisky within.

“Azuma-san’s stunning sculpture, featured on the whisky’s packaging, evokes the fragrant scents and elemental depths of this extraordinarily rare whisky – a gift from nature itself” said Dr Bill. “Our collaboration…is a delicious celebration of nature’s wonder. Including our first whisky finished in Chardonnay casks from Burgundy, this 23-year-old single malt encapsulates nature in all its forms.”Azuma Makoto said: “I was honoured to partner with Dr Bill for this special celebration of shinra bansho. My sculpture is a response to my view of Earth’s blessings – my sense of gratitude for nature – and for the flavour of the Highlands, expressed deliciously in Dr Bill’s whisky.”

The resulting limited-edition, Glenmorangie’s Dr Bill Lumsden x Azuma Makoto 23 Years, is available now.

Read more whisky news with Tempus.