Dancing with scents of jasmine, geranium and narcissus, Glenmorangie 18 Years Old has inspired a unique collaboration between Glenmorangie and botanical sculptor Azuma Makoto.

Comparing the rare Highland single malt Scotch whisky’s sweet, floral notes to a flower in bloom, Azuma Makoto celebrates its unfolding radiance in a stunning limited-edition design, showcasing his inspired floral sculpture Dancing Flowers of Glenmorangie. 

Here, Wonderland speaks to Azuma herself about the collaboration:

How did this collaboration come about?
I got an offer from the Glenmorangie team to express the beautiful, magical world of the 18 Years Old using the language of flowers.

Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your masterpiece?
When I first tasted Glenmorangie rare 18 Years Old, each sip of the whisky unfurled as if it was a flower in bloom. To express the mouth-filling scent, rich taste, and the floral aromas, I wanted to make flowers flutter as if they were dancing.

And the process – how long did it take to create your moving sculpture?
It took me around three months to research and procure flowers from all over the world to make the sculpture. Flowers are already completed entities of beauty when they are in nature. Therefore, if people decide to put something on them, I always keep in mind that my work should not be an imitation of nature. I must create a different expression of their beauty. This simultaneously shows my respect to nature. So I carefully source flowers from around the world to create a magical wonder world through my sculptures.
For the shoot, my photographer, Shunsuke Shiinoki carefully took photos of each petal dancing to illustrate the world in motion.

Is this a particularly floral whisky?
Glenmorangie’s 18 Years Old is a very beautiful floral whisky, with notes of honeysuckle, sweet pea, jasmine and geranium entwined with dried fruits and honey.

Can you tell us a bit more about your career? How did you go from punk musician to floral sculptor?
I started to connect with flowers whilst I was a musician in a band, working part time in a flower shop. That was when I first met the beauty of plants, but at the same time, I also noticed that plants had a lot in common with music. Both are instantaneous and whole and only exist in the world. Just like the way different expressions of “red roses” exist in the same numbers of red roses, a sound will be different depending on the state of mind of the player. It is the same process for how we unify to express music and flowers. I constantly seek aspects of flowers which no one has ever seen and continue to pursue them.

Where and when can we get our hands on this limited-edition?
The Glenmorangie 18 Years Old’s limited edition Azuma Makoto design will be available from 1st November at whisky specialists and Amazon. You can register your interest now on Clos19.com, RRP: £100.