Macallan TIME : SPACE and 9 More of the Most Unique Whisky Bottle Designs

The most unique whisky bottle designs include the Macallan TIME : SPACE ring decanter with a hole through its centre, the Bowmore ARC-52 designed by Aston Martin, the Macallan Horizon made with Bentley, Macallan The Reach held by three bronze hands and the Royal Salute 53 Years Old Time Chamber by Conrad Shawcross. The list continues with the Glenfiddich 50 Years Old Simultaneous Time, the Dalmore Luminary No.1 by Kengo Kuma, the Macallan M by Fabien Baron and Lalique, the Macallan 72 Years Old Genesis Decanter and the Black Bowmore DB5 1964, whose base is a real Aston Martin engine piston.

Key Takeaways

• Most of these designs mark a milestone. The Macallan's 200th anniversary in 2024 produced both the TIME : SPACE collection and the Macallan Horizon.

• Car makers shaped three of them: Aston Martin designed the Bowmore ARC-52 and worked on the Black Bowmore DB5 1964, and Bentley created the Macallan Horizon.

• Architects and artists created others, including Kengo Kuma for The Dalmore, Conrad Shawcross for Royal Salute and Fabien Baron with Lalique for Macallan M.

• Editions are small. Only 21 Time Chambers, 27 bottles of Black Bowmore DB5 1964 and 100 bottles of Bowmore ARC-52 were made.

• All ten are listed on Spiritory, where availability depends on what collectors are selling at the time.

Tip: With sculptural bottles, every part belongs to the object. The Bowmore ARC-52 opens with a bespoke magnetic key and Macallan The Reach comes in an elm cabinet, so keep the key, case, stand and paperwork together. A complete set is easier to value and to sell.

Macallan TIME : SPACE Has a Hole Through the Middle

The Macallan opened its TIME : SPACE collection in 2024, the year of its 200th anniversary. The decanter is round and flat, shaped like a thick ring, with an open hole straight through its centre, so you can look right through the bottle. The Macallan describes the circle as a symbol of the circle of life. The collection began with the original TIME : SPACE release, which included an 84 year old whisky distilled in 1940, and Macallan TIME : SPACE Mastery followed the same year, bottled at 43.6% ABV in a box covered in 200 spikes inspired by origami.

The new release, Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask, is a 20 Years Old at 44.8% ABV, married in the first 200 Valdespino sherry seasoned casks filled during the bicentenary. For the full story, read 7 Things to Know About the Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask and How Does the Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask Compare to Mastery?

Bowmore ARC-52 Touches the Table at Only Two Points

Bowmore and Aston Martin launched the Bowmore ARC-52 in 2022. Aston Martin designed the vessel, working with 3D printing and hand crafted clay models along the way. It is made of aluminium and hand blown glass, curved into an arc that rests on just two points, so it seems to float above the surface.

The lid is nickel plated aluminium with a patented magnetic lock, and it opens with a bespoke magnetic key. Inside is a 52 year old single malt matured in sherry butts and American oak bourbon hogsheads. Only 100 bottles were made.

Macallan Horizon Lies Flat Instead of Standing Up

Almost every whisky bottle stands upright. The Macallan Horizon, launched with Bentley Motors in March 2024, lies on its side. The horizontal glass bottle has a 180 degree twist and sits in a twisting frame built from six materials that matter to both companies: whisky, wood, copper, aluminium, leather and glass.

The aluminium is left over from Bentley's car production, the copper was recycled from The Macallan's former stills, and the wood was upcycled from both brands. The whisky is bottled at 46.6% ABV, a nod to six European oak casks and those six materials, and only 700 bottles exist.

Macallan The Reach Is Held by Three Bronze Hands

Released in February 2022, Macallan The Reach is an 81 year old single malt from a single sherry cask filled in 1940, bottled at 41.6% ABV. Only 288 decanters were made. Each one rests in a bronze sculpture of three hands by Scottish sculptor Saskia Robinson.

The hands stand for three chapters of the distillery's story: the distillery workers of 1940, former chairman Allan Shiach, and Kirsteen Campbell, The Macallan's Master Whisky Maker at the time of release. Small indentations in the glass match the fingerprints of the hands, and each decanter comes in a cabinet made from an elm tree thought to have been growing on the Macallan Estate in 1940.

Royal Salute Time Chamber Balances Like a Spinning Top

The Royal Salute 53 Years Old Time Chamber is a sculpture by British artist Conrad Shawcross, unveiled at Frieze London in October 2023 as the second edition of Royal Salute's Art of Wonder series. A hand spun glass disc is joined to a crystal decanter, and an oak spindle pierces the centre of the disc, so the whole piece resembles a spinning top.

Shawcross began shaping it after a visit to the Strathisla Distillery, where he first encountered the 53 year old blend inside. The age is a tribute to 1953, the year Royal Salute was created as a gift for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Only 21 pieces were made.

Glenfiddich 50 Year Old Is Shaped by 50 Years of Weather

Glenfiddich announced its Time Re:Imagined collection in September 2022: a 30 Year Old called Suspended Time, a 40 Year Old called Cumulative Time and a 50 Year Old called Simultaneous Time. For the Glenfiddich 50 Years Old Time Re:Imagined Simultaneous Time, computational designer Manuel Jiménez García turned 50 years of Speyside climate data (humidity, temperature and air pressure) into an algorithm that generated the form of the outer sculpture.

Inside sits a hand blown, three sided crystal decanter by Glasstorm, built from two opposing triangles and etched with a stag. Only 220 decanters of the 50 Year Old were released.

Dalmore Luminary No.1 Was Built Around Kintsugi by Kengo Kuma

The Luminary Series is a collaboration between The Dalmore and V&A Dundee, Scotland's design museum. For the first chapter in 2022, Japanese architect Kengo Kuma encased a 48 year old Dalmore in a sculpture of wood and steel made from 48 pieces. It draws on kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, and brings together Japanese oak and Scottish oak from the banks of the River Tay. Only three bottles of this Dalmore 48 Years Old The Luminary No.1 Rare Edition were filled.

The series then turned to glass. For Luminary No.2 in 2024, Melodie Leung of Zaha Hadid Architects designed a glass sculpture said to reflect the swirl of whisky in a tumbler and the vapour in a still. Its rare 49 year old edition sold for £93,750 at Sotheby's, with all proceeds donated to V&A Dundee. A 16 Years Old from Luminary No.2 is also listed on Spiritory.

Macallan M Has Six Facets for Six Pillars

The Macallan M first appeared in 2013, created by designer Fabien Baron with the French crystal house Lalique. Its tall, slim decanter is cut into sharp geometric facets, and Lalique needs a 15 stage finishing process to make each one. Just 1,750 numbered decanters of the first M were released.

The design has returned in several editions since, including M Black in black crystal. For the 2022 M Black, The Macallan describes the six facets as Baron's homage to the distillery's Six Pillars, and calls the decanter one of the most challenging Lalique has made. Look for the Macallan M Decanter 2022 Release, Black Edition or the Macallan M Decanter 2023 Release on Spiritory.

Macallan 72 Years Old Genesis Decanter Follows the Roofline of a Distillery

In 2018, the year its new distillery opened, The Macallan released a 72 year old in a Lalique crystal decanter called the Genesis Decanter. Lalique shaped the top of the decanter so that it rises and falls like the roofline of the new distillery, with its clean lines and natural curves.

The presentation case, designed by Burgess Studio and made by the cabinet makers NEJ Stevenson, has a curved wooden roof and a footprint taken from the circular layout of the new still houses. Only 600 were made, and at the time it was the oldest whisky The Macallan had ever released. It is listed on Spiritory as Macallan 72 Years Old Lalique.

Black Bowmore DB5 1964 Stands on a Real Aston Martin Piston

Unveiled in August 2020 as the first collaboration between Bowmore and Aston Martin, the Black Bowmore DB5 1964 brings two icons together. The base of each decanter is a genuine piston from the engine of an Aston Martin DB5. Designers first built a precise 3D model of the piston head, then shaped hand made glass by Glasstorm to fit inside it, and each one takes about a week to make.

The whisky is a 31 year old distilled in 1964 and bottled at 49.6% ABV. Only 27 bottles were drawn, and 25 of them were offered for sale.

Tip: When you list a sculptural bottle for sale, photograph every part in good light, including the stand, the case and any key or certificate. Buyers of these pieces look closely at the condition of the bronze, wood and leather, not only at the fill level.

FAQ

Which whisky bottle has a hole in the middle?

The Macallan TIME : SPACE collection uses a round, flat decanter with an open hole through its centre. It launched in 2024 for the distillery's 200th anniversary with the original TIME : SPACE release and Mastery, and the new 20 Years Old Sherry Cask followed in 2026.

Which car makers have designed whisky bottles?

Aston Martin designed the Bowmore ARC-52 and worked with Bowmore on the Black Bowmore DB5 1964, whose base is a real DB5 engine piston. Bentley created the Macallan Horizon with The Macallan in 2024.

Why do distilleries release whisky in sculptural decanters?

Most of these bottles mark a milestone or a very old whisky. The TIME : SPACE collection and the Macallan Horizon celebrate The Macallan's 200th anniversary, The Reach and the Genesis Decanter each held the oldest whisky The Macallan had released at the time, and the Time Chamber's 53 year age statement honours 1953, the year Royal Salute was created.

Are there other remarkable designs that are not on this list?

Yes. The Glenlivet SPIRA 60 Year Old comes in a spiral decanter hand blown by Glasstorm and sold for £650,000 at auction in 2025. Port Ellen Prism, Old Pulteney Polaris in its case of Caithness slate, the Gordon & MacPhail 85 Years Old wrapped in bronze branches by architect Jeanne Gang, and Mortlach's L'Evolution Collection in 3D printed cages by Philippe Starck also stand out. They are not currently listed on Spiritory, which is why they are not among the ten.

Where can I buy these bottles?

All ten are listed on Spiritory, a bid and ask marketplace for spirits based in Munich that ships within the EU. Availability depends on what collectors are selling at the time, and buyers pay a 3% buyer protection fee plus shipping.