In my opinion the two best things to be possible paired together; art and alcohol. This Fall/Winter season is Scotch season ladies and gentleman. And in honor of these best months, The Macallan invites you to take a look at the spirit through the eyes (and lens) of one of the world’s most famous photographers, Annie Leibovitz. As part of its Masters of Photography series, The Macallan has appointed Annie Leibovitz as the third master photographer to capture the essence of The Macallan through photography, marrying the art of whisky making and the art of photography.
The images featured in this article are apart of Annie Leibovitz’s exlcusive photo shoot for The Macallan’s limited edition whisky range. In late 2011, The Macallan commissioned the world’s best known photographer – Annie Leibovitz – to shoot a creative campaign featuring Scottish actor Kevin McKidd (The Scottish hunk from Grey’s Anatomy.) This creative campaign is framed around ‘The Macallan. The Last Word.’ and reflects a ‘day in the life’ of the actor Kevin McKidd enjoying The Macallan at different times, with different moods/ occasions.
While The Macallan’s dedication to mastery extends back to its inception – The Macallan has always had an obsession with quality, taking no shortcuts and sparing no expense to produce the whisky– our work with photographers is a bit more recent. The Macallan’s Director of Malts, Ken Grier, saw that the photography process was a perfect partner to the art of crafting whisky, and the Masters of Photography series was born.
The series launched in 2008 with Scottish-born photographer Rankin, who captured stunning images of life in and around The Macallan’s home in Speyside on Polaroid film. These evocative images were paired with a rare limited edition bottle of 30 Years Old Fine Oak to kick off the series.
Then in 2010, legendary photographer Albert Watson weaved a visual narrative of the journey The Macallan casks take – from the forests in Spain to the distillery in Speyside – capturing stunning images at The Macallan’s spiritual home and along the way. The Macallan released a brand new 20 Years Old Sherry Oak liquid to accompany the images.
Continuing on from those two successful collections, for the third iteration, Annie Leibovitz employed her skill at capturing portraits to tell the story of the core sentiments that correspond to the moments of enjoying The Macallan. Using Scottish actor (and former distillery hand) Kevin McKidd as the centerpiece of the images, Anne Leibovitz captured brilliant moments in and around New York City, which whisky maker Bob Dalgarno used as inspiration to craft four unique single cask expressions to pair with the images. The end result is four striking images paired with these unique whiskies, resulting in a collection of 1,000 bottles available worldwide for $2,750.
The Masters of Photography series is set to continue as The Macallan showcases its ongoing commitment to photography and celebrate the thriving industry. Along with engaging these special projects, The Macallan is also the title sponsor of the Royal Photographic Society Annual Awards, acknowledging individuals who have made a significant contribution to the art of photography.
To learn more about The Macallan Masters of Photography Project visit the website here.
