Glenmorangie Releases Rare Whisky, Pride 1978
10 Jul 2014 --- Glenmorangie, Scotland’s favorite single malt whisky, announced a partnership with internationally acclaimed artist Idris Khan to mark the release of Glenmorangie’s rarest expression to date, Pride 1978.
Sharing the brand’s pioneering spirit and devotion to craft, Khan has drawn inspiration from the brand to create a unique piece of artwork titled ‘Disappearing Casks’.
‘Disappearing Casks’ represents traces of the distinctive whisky barrels at Glenmorangie’s distillery in Tain, the very place where the award winning single malt is created. It’s these casks, five to be exact, which have been locked in Glenmorangie’s archives since 1978. The precious 34 year-old liquid was bottled in 2012 following 15 years of extra-maturation in casks which had contained a legendary French Bordeaux Premier Grand Cru Classé wine, making it the longest extra-maturation of any Glenmorangie single malt to date.
Dr Bill Lumsden, Head of Distilling and Whisky Creation at Glenmorangie, commented: “The opportunity to work with Idris Khan on Pride 1978 was an exciting one. Like Idris, we are always looking to push boundaries and innovate, and Pride 1978 is the pinnacle of those efforts.”
The partnership between Glenmorangie and Idris Khan recognizes a shared ethos in Khan’s approach to design. Photographing or scanning from the selected material, Khan builds layers of scans digitally to create a single, beautiful piece of art, comparable with Glenmorangie’s complex and detailed whisky distilling process.
Khan also shares Glenmorangie’s extraordinary approach and process to his creations, He is celebrated for his minimal, yet emotionally charged photographs, videos and sculptures and is without question one of the most exciting British artists of his generation, and a fine example of Glenmorangie’s Unnecessarily Well Made ethos.
Khan commented: “I am absolutely delighted to work with Glenmorangie. When visiting their distillery in Tain I was immediately mesmerized. The vision of the casks has stayed with me and provided inspiration for ‘Disappearing Casks’.”
To celebrate the release, Glenmorangie introduced Pride 1978 at the prestigious Academy Mansion on the Upper East Side of New York City. Idris Kahn and Dr Bill Lumsden hosted a handpicked crowd of US and international journalists for an exclusive journey into the Unnecessarily Well Made world of Glenmorangie during which both Idris’ Artwork and Pride 1978 were revealed.
