The Macallan, in partnership with luxury automaker Bentley Motors, recently unveiled the vision and design of The Macallan Horizon, a new, innovative single malt whisky from the brands.
The whisky product itself will be available in the summer of 2023, but the prototype of The Macallan Horizon now fuses what’s described as both traditional craftsmanship and state-of-the-art materials, with new technology to create the whisky’s horizontal design.
The idea was born out of the partnership’s recent series of rare Macallan single malts called the Six Pillars. The Macallan Horizon concept incorporates six repurposed ethically sourced materials that are found to be integral to The Macallan and Bentley Motors.
A joint statement from the two brands explained that among those materials are recycled copper from the disused small spirit stills that were located within The Macallan’s former distillery; aluminum recovered from the Bentley Motors manufacturing process; recycled wood; recyclable glass; and carbon neutral leather used in the recently unveiled Bentley Mulliner grand tourer.
The final component, or course, is the rare single malt whisky crafted for The Macallan Horizon.
The Macallan Master Whisky Maker Kirsteen Campbell recently explained the flavor profile developed for the whisky following a visit to Bentley Motors in Crewe, where she observed the car maker’s shared passion for creativity, craftsmanship and innovation.
Those six key materials form a concept that will otherwise defy the traditional vertical aesthetic of a whisky bottle. Those from Bentley and the Macallan explain that this design is meant to “reflect the horizontal trajectory of the automotive world, pushing the boundaries and the art of the possible.”
The conceptual design also features a glass bottle with a twist, literally, meant to represent the physical use of space and time by The Macallan and Bentley Motors as they created the prototype, which has no standing base.
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Jaume Ferras, global creative director for The Macallan, said, “Taking inspiration from the automotive industry, we are showcasing our creative vision and concept development of The Macallan Horizon, which is among the most unique projects we have embarked on in our almost 200-year history. Our collaboration with Bentley Motors and the knowledge exchange we have undertaken as a result has inspired us to see things very differently.”
He said that in the spirits world, everything is upright, such as stills and bottles. “When we looked at the horizontal direction pursued by Bentley Motors as part of the automotive industry, it made us consider if and how we could adapt this format for whisky, which ultimately requires to be poured.”
Bentley’s head of design collaborations, Chris Cooke, said that the prototype for The Macallan Horizon is pioneering in both its design and use of materials.
“It’s a fusion of the sharply defined yet curvaceous Bentley design DNA and The Macallan’s innovation and recycled materials from both iconic British brands,” he said. “The form of the design has allowed us to almost treat light as another material in itself, and the interplay between light and the wood, aluminum and copper materials is extraordinary. In being both an object of beauty in itself and demonstrating such innovation, it’s a representation of what’s coming next from our partnership.”
More information on the pricing and availability of The Macallan Horizon single malt whisky will be shared closer to its release next year. To find out more, check out www.themacallan.com or www.bentleymotors.com.
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