Johnnie Walker’s couture collaboration with designer Olivier Rousteing and other rare whiskies for collectors

In fine whisky, rarity and artistry often meet – but not quite like this. From a US$20,000 (S$26,082) couture-inspired Johnnie Walker collaboration by Olivier Rousteing to a 50-year-old Speyside single malt, these releases push craftsmanship, creativity and collectability.

COUTURE EXPRESSION BY JOHNNIE WALKER VAULT X OLIVIER ROUSTEING

In a Paiza Collection suite over 50 storeys above the city, Olivier Rousteing’s face flashes on a screen inside one of Marina Bay Sands’ most opulent rooms as we prepare to taste the first release of a two-part collaboration between Balmain’s former creative director and Johnnie Walker Vault. 

Aptly named Couture Expression, the inaugural limited-edition release from the Vault, is a collection of four exclusive blends inspired by the four seasons – spring, summer, fall and winter – co-created by Rousteing and Johnnie Walker Master Blender Dr Emma Walker.

Only 25 bottles of each season exist globally, priced at US$20,000 a bottle, with just one complete set of all four expressions available for the Singapore market – and buyers must purchase the full set. 

Each of the four blends are built around rare ghost whiskies from Brora and Port Dundas distilleries at their ‘heart’, layered with whiskies hand-selected by Walker from the Vault, which comprises a library of 500 rare, aged and ghost whiskies personally curated and rotated from the very best of the 10 million casks of Scotch available to her as Master Blender.

To develop this exquisite blend, the pair came together over the course of 12 months inside the Vault, a hidden ‘atelier’ under Johnnie Walker Princes Street in Edinburgh, to translate Rousteing’s personal narrative of the four seasons through the lens of flavour and high fashion.

“This has been an emotional journey,” shared Rousteing, the first cultural partner under the Johnnie Walker Vault programme. “What started as a collaboration to create one special release became a creative exploration of four seasons, just like a couture collection. For me, the seasons bring different energy and emotions – the feeling of rebirth in spring, the hazy freedom of summer, the self-reflection of fall and the cosiness of home and family in winter – that Emma so beautifully captured in the collection.”

Together, they explored what whisky can express – technically, sensorially and artistically.

“We deliberately chose to use the same whiskies across several of the seasons, playing with proportions, textures and seasonal notes to create four distinct expressions,” Walker explained. 

Each expression is bottled in a square crystal decanter by Baccarat, topped with a sculptural wing stopper that interprets Johnnie Walker’s “Keep Walking” ethos as flight. Each decanter is presented in its own chest.

Given the freedom to push the boundaries in the bottle design, Rousteing used the couture technique of drape to capture the seasons in gold, silver, rose gold and metallic black.

“I wanted to create a structured armour reflecting strength and perseverance, but for it to be swathed like silk to bring softness and reveal the beautiful liquid inside,” he said. 

At a private tasting paired with off-menu dishes by Maison Boulud, we moved through the seasons as the sun set over the Singapore skyline.

Spring showed refreshing and floral notes drawn from rare whiskies including a 1985 Cragganmore, a 1977 Caledonian and a treasured 1978 Port Ellen, while Summer spoke of tropical fruit notes including those of an experimental Cardhu Wine Cask Finish, and a 1990 Clynelish wrapped in the richness of 1988 Benrinnes.

Fall was textured and bold, with layers of Teaninich chocolate malt meeting with the smokiness of a 1978 Port Ellen, and finally, Winter, the richest of the four, encapsulated a deep and contemplative character that dialled up Islay malts from Port Ellen and Brora with a mulled wine sweetness from the 1988 Benrinnes.

COUTURE BLEND BY JOHNNIE WALKER VAULT X OLIVIER ROUSTEING 

Couture Expression is followed by Couture Blend, the second and final release in the collaboration.

Timed to coincide with Rousteing’s 40th birthday in September, the Couture Blend is another deeply personal, limited edition whisky blend comprising 1,500 individually numbered crystal decanters worldwide. Of which, only 39 bottles will be available exclusively across Marina Bay Sands and The Whisky Distillery, each priced from S$3,700.

Walker selected 10 whiskies from the Johnnie Walker Vault, including several of at least 40 years to mark Rousteing’s milestone – which he describes as “entering a new chapter with wisdom, freedom and serenity”.

Walker then layered them with experimental and rare whiskies to create an interesting tension of flavour and styles. From the vault she selected ghost whiskies from long-closed distilleries such as Port Dundas and Caledonian that tell a story of tradition, heritage and rarity and melded them with more trailblazing ones from the ’80s and ’90s such as Benrinnes, Cragganmore and Cameronbridge. And finally, contemporary expressions from the last two decades including malts from Cardhu, Roseisle and Teaninich.

“In this special blend, I leaned into whiskies that push the boundaries of flavour, just as Olivier pushes the boundaries in couture,” said Walker. “I chose rare malts from Roseisle, which have been matured in ex-wine casks for the luscious fruity and tropical flavours, a spicy chocolate malt experiment from Teannich for tonka chocolate notes, and a special ghost cask from Port Ellen for a unique cloak of smoke. Blending these with the classic flavours associated with Johnnie Walker has resulted in something completely singular, which I hope captures Olivier’s spirit as he enters his fourth decade,” she elaborated.

To complete this showcase blend, Rousteing also designed The Couture Flask – a jewel-like refillable flask that holds 10ml of the luxury scotch, taking whisky consumption from dram to dramatic with a US$500 couture-style object of art available exclusively in London.

YAMAZAKI 25 YEARS OLD MIZUNARA

At one-Michelin-starred Araya, the House of Suntory unveiled the Yamazaki 25 Years Old Mizunara, the rarest fully Mizunara-aged Yamazaki expression to date. While the Yamazaki 55 Years Old featured partial Mizunara maturation, this release is the oldest expression to be exclusively aged in Mizunara Japanese Oak casks, which are revered for their delicate grain and demanding nature that requires exceptional craftsmanship. For the wood to reveal its signature character and intricate aroma woven with hints of sandalwood, coconut and smouldering incense, for example, whiskies must be aged for at least a decade.

Here, the Yamazaki 25 Years Old Mizunara, which has been bottled at 48% ABV, delights with both subtlety and complexity. 

Paired with the soulful creations Araya, the world’s first and only Michelin-starred Chilean restaurant featuring Japanese ingredients and techniques, this set the stage for our lunch tasting with the whisky. On the palate, orange notes suggest bittersweet spice while the woodiness of Mizunara oak carried hints of oriental herbal medicine. On the nose, an apricot compote-like sweetness mingled with cacao latte-like smoothness and hints of nutmeg and cardamon.

To honour the rarity of this prized wood, the Yamazaki 25 Years Old Mizunara, which is priced at US$7,500, is presented in a handcrafted box assembled using a traditional Japanese nail-free “locking” technique.

THE GLENDRONACH 30 YEAR OLD AND 40 YEAR OLD, 2025 EDITION

You may not as recognise the name easily, but The Glendronach’s history spans two centuries in the Scottish Highlands. A distillery once renowned for sherry cask maturation, The Glendronach, which means ‘valley of the brambles’ or ‘valley of the blackberries’, changed hands over generations, with periods of silence.

Resurrected once again last year, the distillery has released two new expressions, each a testament to the profound character drawn from the finest Spanish sherry casks that have been sleeping peacefully in the distillery’s traditional dunnage warehouses in the Valley of Forgue: The Glendronach 30 Year Old and the Glendronach 40 Year Old, 2025 Edition.

The former, priced at S$1,980, marries whisky matured in three distinct styles of sherry cask – Pedro Ximenez, Oloroso and, for the first time, Amontillado sherry casks – creating a whisky of exceptional richness and layered complexity, according to Master Blender Dr Rachel Barrie.

“We have composed a symphony from our most historic sherry cask styles,” said Barrie, who was in town for the tasting at Wakuda Restaurant and Bar by celebrity chef Tetsuya Wakuda.

The inclusion of the Amontillado cask, in particular, adds a layer of toasted hazelnut and mellow creme caramel, which complements the signature notes of dark cherry, chocolate and spiced fruit from the Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso casks.

Add another decade of maturation and we have The Glendronach 40 Year Old, 2025 Edition, considered the pinnacle of the distillery’s artistry, “polished by time to become the ultimate expression of The Glendronach,” Barrie continued.

Priced at S$9,500, it is composed from a small number of casks married over four decades in Spanish oak Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez casks. The presentation includes a dark-stained rosewood box with brass handles.

THE BALVENIE FIFTY COLLECTION SECOND EDITION

One of the rarest releases to ever emerge from the Speyside distillery, The Second Edition is part of a whisky trilogy by The Balvenie that celebrates the stories of craftsmanship at the distillery over the past 50 years.

The edition is limited to only 97 bottles globally, each filled with 50-year-old whisky arising from a marriage of two rare casks from 1973: a European oak refill butt and an American oak hogshead. 

The time spent maturing in American oak has nurtured a beautifully balanced character, with notes of sweet honey and warming oak,” said Malt Master Kelsey McKechnie. “This profile was chosen to complement the European oak influence of The First Edition, creating a marriage of casks that brings both contrast and continuity to the flavour thread running through the trilogy,” she explained.

Bottled at ABV 49.8%, the union releases floral and evocative notes of sticky toffee, violet and rose, built upon a bouquet of warming oak and subtle spice. And on the palate, notes of molten dates, sweet currants and subtle citrus zest layered over creamy honey culminate in a lingering, buttery finish.

Housed in a crafted helix wood encasement adorned with 14-carat gold plated brass, the Second Edition is available exclusively through The Distillers Library in Singapore. Price upon request.