The Glenlivet has once again stepped into the rarefied air of ultra-aged Scotch, unveiling a 56-year-old expression that stands as the second chapter of its Eternal Collection. Emerging in the glow of last month’s Distillers One of One auction where the 60-year-old Spira shattered expectations at £650,000, the new release arrives with quiet confidence, rooted in heritage yet elevated through contemporary artistry.
Created in collaboration with London-based design studio Fredrikson Stallard, the release unfolds as a two-part narrative. First, a singular one-of-one bottling, paired with a bespoke sculpture and filled with a slightly rarer cut of the liquid, went under the hammer at Sotheby’s for £75,000. The companion edition, limited to just 60 bottles, carries the same 56-year age statement and is offered with a smaller sculpture echoing the original’s design. Priced at €52,500, it remains an extraordinary prize for collectors seeking the intersection of craftsmanship, provenance and art.
The sculpture’s visual language draws from the rugged poise of Speyside. Golden branches, modelled after the region’s iconic heather, arc beside the bottle, their form anchored by a brass-plated cairn reminiscent of the stone stacks scattered across Highland trails. As artist Patrik Fredrikson explains, the interplay of scorched heather and ancient rock reflects nature’s quiet resilience and the beauty shaped by decades of maturation.
Inside the bottle, the whisky reveals its own story. After more than half a century in traditional oak, the spirit spent a final three years in a custom sherry cask seasoned with Oloroso, Pedro Ximénez and Palo Cortado. The result is an elegant harmony of oak richness, wintery spice and fruit-laden sweetness, gentle toffee warmth, notes of raisin steeped in alcohol, and a finish that lingers like candlelight on a December evening. A testament to time, terroir and technique, The Glenlivet 56-year-old Eternal Collection release is less a whisky and more a study in quiet grandeur.