The Dalmore has partnered with V&A Dundee for a series of special editions. The Dalmore Luminary No.1 celebrates the architects of the stunning Tayside museum, Kengo Kuma and Maurizio Mucciola. Kuma has created three sculptures, each containing a rare 48-year-old Dalmore. One will remain at V&A Dundee, a second has been squirreled away at the distillery and a third is to be auctioned at Sotheby’s in an online auction on 16 November (registration opens on 1 November). This will raise money for the Tayside museum’s curation and advocacy work. It is expected to raise between £95,000 and £180,000.

The artwork is made from 48 pieces of Scottish oak (from a tree felled in a storm on the banks of the Tay), Japanese mizunara oak and metal. The piece was handcrafted, while Japan was still under severe travel restrictions, under Kuma’s remote guidance, at the Glasgow studio of Irish woodcraft expert John Galvin, a frequent collaborator with the whisky industry.

The golden liquid contained within these sculptures is a classic example of the work of Dalmore’s master distiller, Richard Paterson. It’s an assemblage of whiskies distilled as far back as 1966 and aged in Oloroso and Apostoles sherry butts, vintage port pipes and American white oak. But it was finished in a hybrid cask made from the same two Scottish and Japanese oaks as the sculpture.

It is to be hoped that the lucky person who acquires the auctioned sculpture does decide to taste this whisky, rather than leave it untouched. Brummell was able to sample some of the very limited “leftover” liquid. After a sumptuous, enveloping black cherry and coffee noseful, a dot on the tongue gives you a constantly shifting palate of chocolate cake, orange marmalade and more floral flavours. It ends with a liquorice toffee finish.

If the Luminary No.1 Rare eludes you, there is an alternative: The Dalmore Luminary No.1 Collectible, of which there are a more accessible 15,000 bottles. It has unmistakable Dalmore DNA: rich, deep chocolate orange etc, but with tropical notes and unusual spices that make it the most surprising Dalmore yet.

The Dalmore Luminary No.1 Rare auction; The Dalmore Luminary No.1 Collectible, £250; thedalmore.com