(London and New York. Wednesday 7 November) Iconic luxury brands The Macallan and Lalique today unveiled The Macallan in Lalique Natural Colour decanter containing an exceptionally rare 55 years old single malt whisky valued at £6,000 (USD$12,000).

The Natural Colour decanter has been designed by the legendary French crystal house Lalique, exclusively for The Macallan.  A limited edition, of only 420, have been produced, each individually numbered and available in selected outlets in the USA, UK, Asia and Russia from January 2008.

Ken Grier, director of The Macallan comments: “The first Macallan in Lalique decanter paid homage to the carefully selected wood casks in which the spirit matures. This second collaboration between The Macallan and Lalique celebrates the natural colour which results from the interaction of spirit and wood to deliver the rich diversity of colour evident throughout our range of outstanding whiskies. We used this as the inspiration for the design of this decanter which we have titled ‘Natural Colour’.

 “The first decanter containing 50 year old single malt was launched in 2005 and proved a huge success.  Since then we have seen an increase in demand for our rarer whiskies, proof that we were moving in the right direction by extending our partnership with Lalique to produce a series of decanters containing the finest Macallan single malt.  The Natural Colour decanter launched today is the second in what will be a series of six based on The Macallan’s Six Pillars and is testament to the quality and craftsmanship of both partners in the production of this outstanding product.  We are confident that this will make the Natural Colour decanter even more desirable to the discerning purchaser and will be of particular interest to whisky connoisseurs and collectors of Lalique crystal.

The Macallan 55 years old single malt contained in the decanter is cask strength  (40.1% abv), and has remained undisturbed for over half a century at Easter Elchies House – The Macallan’s spiritual home on Speyside, Scotland - where it matured through the decades in a sherry oak cask.  Dark rosewood in colour, the liquid has aromatic notes of exotic, sweet dried fruits with a hint of peat-smoke, the finish is wonderfully soft, smooth and spicy with lingering touches of citrus. 

Managing Director of Lalique UK, Mercedes Canos, explains: “We are delighted to be working with the world’s finest single malt as it has given us the opportunity to design a series of decanters which reflect all the best attributes of our brand - creativity, heritage and craftsmanship.  The Natural Colour decanter was created by our design team in Paris and is based on the classic Paquerettes tiara perfume bottle designed by Rene Lalique in 1910.  It is a mix of masculine and feminine shapes and the stopper is made in amber coloured crystal, one of the most difficult colours for crystal makers to achieve.”

Hand crafted at Lalique’s crystal making facility in Wingen-sur-Moder, Alsace, each piece was worked on by up to 25 craftsmen, many of whom have attained the ‘Meilleur ouvrier de France’ – the Finest Craftsman of France Award.   Each decanter bears the esteemed ‘Lalique France’ signature which symbolises authenticity and over 100 years of creativity, heritage and craftsmanship and comes in a specially designed leather and silk presentation box, with a crystal stopper and a leather-bound collectors guide detailing the craftsmanship that has gone into producing this beautiful object d’art.