The Balvenie marked the release of its 1931 Collection with a collaboration with artist Daniel Arsham, translating decades of whisky-making into a sculptural study of time, material and craftsmanship. The collection made its global debut at Frieze Seoul, where Arsham directed a live performance inspired by the heritage of the Scottish distillery.
A relic shaped by 88 years
At the centre of the collaboration is The Balvenie Eighty-Eight-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, the oldest whisky ever released by the distillery. Distilled in 1931 and bottled in 2019 by Malt Master Kelsey McKechnie, only 17 bottles of the rare expression exist.
Arsham created a sculptural form to house the precious liquid, treating the whisky as a physical record of generations of craftsmanship. Eight flowing layers form the exterior, representing eight decades of maturation. Hand-patinated bronze echoes the textures and natural oxidation of copper found throughout the distillery, while the reverse incorporates 88 symbolic layers of oak.
At its centre sits a copper disc made from a decommissioned distillery still, embedding a fragment of The Balvenie’s own history within the work. The sculpture holds a hand-blown crystal decanter containing the Eighty-Eight-Year-Old whisky, finished with 18ct gold gilding and shaped around The Balvenie Ball, inspired by the distinctive form of the distillery’s copper stills.
The language of time and material
The collaboration reflects themes that run through Arsham’s practice, from the passage of time to material change and the histories carried by objects. His sculptural vocabulary enters into dialogue with The Balvenie’s heritage, design and craftsmanship.
The same material language extends to the packaging of the 1931 Collection’s Twelve-Year-Old and Fifteen-Year-Old expressions. Deeply debossed surfaces shift from copper tones into green, recalling the sculpture’s verdigris patina, while textured copper-coloured interiors reference the industrial character of The Balvenie distillery.
Three expressions, one heritage
The 1931 Collection brings together three limited-edition whiskies. Alongside the Eighty-Eight-Year-Old, it includes a Twelve-Year-Old made from 100% Home Malted Barley and a Fifteen-Year-Old made from 100% Home Grown and Home Malted Barley.
The Fifteen-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky becomes available from September through global travel retail outlets, while the Twelve-Year-Old will be released in selected markets. The Eighty-Eight-Year-Old is reserved for private clients and collectors.
The three expressions reflect The Balvenie’s long-standing approach to whisky-making, rooted in its Five Rare Crafts: growing its own barley, traditional floor malting, coopering, copper craftsmanship and the intuitive expertise of the Malt Master.
A sensory performance at Frieze Seoul
The 1931 Collection made its global debut at Frieze Seoul through a live performance directed by Daniel Arsham. Taking place at Space S50 in Seongdong-gu as part of the Official Frieze Week programme, the work translated the collection’s ideas about time and craftsmanship into movement, sound and space.
Across a barley-grain canvas inspired by The Balvenie’s Home Malting Floor, dancers moved through eight fluid acts choreographed by Sukyung Yoo. Arsham occasionally joined the performers, drawing on his own movement practice, while a bespoke soundscape built from ambient recordings of The Balvenie distillery accompanied the performance.
The result took the story of the 1931 Collection beyond the bottle, combining whisky, sculpture, movement and sound to create a shared sensory landscape, and giving The Balvenie’s long history a contemporary twist.
If you would like to know more about Daniel Arsham’s thoughts on beauty and its transcendence of cultural boundaries, read our conversation with the artist here.
Photography courtesy of THE BALVENIE X DANIEL ARSHAM
Special thanks to SUTTON
