IMAGE: VISITSCOTLAND/NORTH EAST 250/DAMIAN SHIELDS


TRAVEL TALK


Buyers at this end of the market


are often serious collectors. Last year, an unnamed woman from Asia bought a one-of-a-kind cask from Ardbeg, on Islay, for a record £16m. It contains a combination of two rare casks distilled in 1975, not long before Ardbeg was mothballed during the whisky crash. The price includes the cost of pouring the whisky into 88 bottles over the next five years. Bowman says he’s getting an


increasing number of requests from buyers who want casks to mark special occasions. Most in-demand are increasingly scarce 30-plus-year-old casks of Macallan, which are worth six- figure sums. Clients often request casks that were laid down in their birth or wedding anniversary year, leading Bowman on searches that can take him to dusty corners


194


of warehouses. He recently found twin casks that were filled on the day his client’s twin daughters were born. “I sometimes feel like the Indiana Jones of whisky,” he says. Diageo’s private client


service offers access to what it calls its ‘casks of distinction’, which are branded with gold stars after being selected from the company’s more than 50 warehouses and stored at the Royal Lochnagar distillery in Royal Deeside. Buyers are encouraged to visit their maturing casks on bespoke trips that can include fly fishing, as well as access to a private suite at Johnnie Walker Princes Street. In 2021, an anonymous buyer bought a 1982 cask from Brora for £875,000 at Sotheby’s — a price that included a


NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM/TRAVEL


journey across the surrounding landscapes with an award- winning photographer. At The Glenturret, John


Laurie says the transformation of an old distillery is about more than high prices and Michelin stars — visitors now spend on average five times more than they used to. “Previously people would come to us as part of a coach party and maybe they were interested but maybe they weren’t — they were just passing through,” he says. “But now they’re coming specifically to see us and get educated in our history and what we do. That’s what’s changing the industry, and it’s making a much richer experience.” That visitors are also more likely to leave with a Lalique bottle of single malt is, of course, a bonus.


Above: Speyside Cooperage, where visitors get to experience the ancient art of coopering using traditional techniques


MORE INFORMATION theglenturret.com johnniewalker.com scotchwhiskyexperience. co.uk holyrooddistillery.co.uk maltwhiskytrail.com hebrideanwhisky.com


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