5 Rare Whiskies for the Serious Collector

T his legendary set of Bowmore was released in 2007, 2008, and 2009, containing the Black Bowmore, White Bowmore and Gold Bowmore, all bearing the 1964 vintage. The Black Bowmore 1964 is the successor of the Black Bowmore Series released back in 1993, 1994 and 1995, all of which later has become Scotch whisky icons savoured for both its exceptional quality and rapid increase in secondary market value. This oloroso sherry cask matured whisky is accompanied by a bourbon cask matured White Bowmore 1964. The series is completed by the Gold Bowmore 1964, a bottle which is a mix between both bourbon and oloroso sherry cask. Not only are these three of the most iconic Bowmore bottles ever produced, the quality of the juice inside is also widely regarded as some of the best in the distillery’s 245-year history.

C reated on the occasion of La Maison du Whisky’s 60th anniversary, these two present bottles a true rarity. To mark its anniversary, La Maison du Whisky – one of the largest fine and rare whisky distributors in the world – decided to create something truly special which would solidify its place in the history of Japanese whisky. Holding one of the largest inventories of old Karuizawa casks, La Maison du Whisky generously selected two casks from the 1965 vintage, a bourbon and a sherry, to create two 50-year old bottlings of Karuizawa, the third oldest Karuizawa to have ever been bottled. To go one step further, they decided to take partial liquids within each cask to create a blend, resulting in a series very similar to the concept of the Bowmore Trilogy. This was truly an extraordinarily bold concept to adopt on limited and valuable stock from the Japanese ghost distillery, knowing that it would never be repeated again. The liquid inside not only showcases the highest quality liquid that Japan has to offer, but also the art of blending – a quintessential technique that sits at the core of Japanese whisky making. Each of these Karuizawa bottles comes with a booklet which records the process of curating these Karuizawa casks. The Japonisme bottle also contains two samples of its component casks, offering a rare opportunity for the owner to re-live the blending process of this historical bottle.

H ibiki 35 Year Old is not only the oldest, but also the most limited versions of Hibiki ever released, with only 150 bottles of each decanter produced. According to official information, the liquid inside is said to contain 54-year old Japanese malt whiskies, which we could logically deduce its source to be from the Yamazaki distillery given the fact that it was the only operating Japanese whisky distillery at the time. The whisky also contains a significant portion of Mizunara Oak whiskies, expressing aromas and elegancy beyond imagination. The bottles themselves are made from ceramic producers in Arita and Kutani in Kyushu, to honor the 400th anniversary of the appearance of porcelain in Japan. Hibiki 35 Year Old represents the pinnacle of Japanese blending artistry, and is arguably the most valuable blended whisky in the world.