Overview: Glenmorangie has released a 50-year-old Scotch whisky housed in a custom ceramic box designed by Peter Pincus and Laurie Pincus. The project, which took three years to complete with a crew of 15 including scientists, was priced at 30,000 euros (US$33,450) and released in September 2024.
The Full Story
Glenmorangie, a Highlands distillery founded in 1843 and owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, introduced this expression to generate brand awareness rather than direct profit. The packaging abstracts Fingal’s Cave in Staffa Island, located in the Hebrides, and serves as an unfolded barrel encompassing the design concept. CEO Caspar MacRae stated that the aim was to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience, emphasizing that the packaging is important for generating desire for the wider brand.
The project consumed three years of the Pincuses’ lives and involved more than 25 attempts before the prototype stage was finalized. Peter Pincus walked into his studio in Rochester, New York, to oversee the work. The production crew included scientists who developed techniques for firing large ceramics with complex three-dimensional curves on both the front and back. Each of the Pincuses’ vessels is subtly different, making them unique works of art.
Production & Profile
The vessel housing the whisky is essentially an unfolded barrel, designed to abstract Fingal’s Cave in Staffa Island. The production process required a crew of 15 members, including scientists who developed techniques for firing large ceramics with complex three-dimensional curves on both the front and back. This level of handmade workmanship makes time-consuming craftsmanship tenable for extremely old bottlings that come in very small quantities.
Brand & Industry History
Glenmorangie, a Highlands distillery founded in 1843, released this 50-year-old expression in September. The category of very, very old Scotch whiskies has exploded over the past 15 years or so, with sites such as Whisky Marketplace offering a range of more than 100 options across 50, 55 and 60-year age expressions. Distillers have spent the past seven years or so making their old whiskies stand out primarily via their packaging. The Macallan started the arms race in 1986, when it first positioned its 60-year-old 1926 bottling as a £5,000 (US$6,664) ultra-premium experience; elaborate packaging started arriving in the early 2000s.
What This Means
The aim was not to make lots of money. The bottling isn’t a big driver of profits, says Glenmorangie CEO Caspar MacRae, once you take into account “all the investment and time and effort that’s gone into it”. Rather, the aim was to generate awareness and desire for the wider brand. This shift reflects how collectors are buying with their eyes at these price points, where packaging alone should reassure potential purchasers they’re getting their money’s worth.
Consumer Takeaway
This release offers a unique work of art that can be put into another piece of fine art, as Laurie Pincus puts it. The 149 bottles of the Glenmorangie place it at the upper end of the range for very expensive bottles. While the whisky is encased in a unique vessel, the packaging remains in place with a different liquid inside after the whisky is drunk, providing non-financial value to people who like to live with beautiful objects.
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