William Grant unveils 50YO Ladyburn collection

Whisky producer William Grant & Sons has released a collection of 50-year-old Ladyburn single malts in partnership with South Korean artist Ha Chong-Hyun.

Called the Ladyburn Ha Chong-Hyun Edition, the collection is the first official 1970s release from the silent Ladyburn distillery. The collection consists of two single cask releases: 10 numbered 10-bottle sets, and an additional single cask bottling. For the latest collection, the company partnered with experimental contemporary artist Chong-Hyun, whose early experimentalism and material exploration helped shape the South Korean art scene in the 1970s. Many of his works employ the ‘bae-ap-bub’ technique, where Chong-Hyun applies paint to the back of coarse hemp and pushes it through to the front. All 11 bottles have been curated by Chong-Hyun in collaboration with the Seoul Kukje Gallery and comprise a selected piece from the artist's Conjunctions series, which showcases his signature style. William Grant & Sons operated the Ladyburn Distillery at its Girvan complex in South Ayrshire from 1966-1975 – just nine years in total. All the few remaining casks of the lost distillery's single malt are housed and matured at the original site. The casks distilled in the 1970s represent Ladyburn’s 'swan song', the final remnants of a distillery whose production ceased in 1975. Brian Kinsman, malt master at William Grant & Sons, commented: “Ladyburn is a piece of history. It’s one of those distilleries, it came and it went, but the legacy lives on in places like this where we have casks that literally tell a story of a bygone age of making whisky. "The recent collections of Ladyburn are fascinating and this new edition is matured in American Oak. The distillery character shines through and you get a little bit more of that Ladyburn DNA because the cask itself is not dominating.” The Ladyburn Ha Chong-Hyun Edition The 10-bottle collection was drawn from a single American oak refill barrel,  No.3219, yielding a total of 100 bottles. The whisky was distilled on 31 May 1973 and aged for 50 years, resulting in aromas of vanilla, linseed and citrus with toffee, crème brulée and toasted oak on the palate. Offered at 45.4% ABV and priced at approximately US$220,000, the set is only available to William Grant & Sons' private clients. The second whisky for the Ha Chong-Hyun Edition, cask No.3216, was distilled on the same day and also aged for 50 years in an American oak refill barrel. Limited to 85 bottles at 43% ABV, the single malt displays aromas of polished leather, a touch of wood shavings, linseed oil and barley sugar. The palate offers additional notes of rich fruit, Black Forest gateaux, jammy sweetness and a hint of liquorice. The Ladyburn Collection William Grant & Sons debuted the Ladyburn Collection in 2020 with Edition One, a 54-year-old single malt from 1966 in collaboration with photographer David Bailey. The series' second edition, a 55-year-old whisky from 1966, was bottled in 2021 and featured labels by photographer Norman Parkinson. In December 2021, a one-off bottling of 54-year-old single malt was created for The Distillers One of One auction, featuring John Lennon by David Bailey. The bottle sold for more than £80,000 (US$100,152). Edition Three of the collection was released in September 2023 with labels designed by interior designer by David Hicks. The whisky for the release was distilled in 1966 and aged for 56 years.