21/08/2026
Whisky is…Barrel Art 🥃🖌️
At the end of your tour, you'll find yourself in the McIntyre Bar, surrounded by a unique collection of barrel art. It's a fitting finale, celebrating the cask that plays such an important role in shaping a whisky's flavour and character.
Following the success of the Glenfiddich Barrel Art exhibition in 2007, a new collection was created in 2008, transforming pieces of wood into memorable and unique artworks. The programme featured artist, Michael Johnson, an acclaimed designer whose work explored the theme of time 🎨 🕰️
We have four pieces of barrel art from this collection on display around our McIntyre Gallery which have been kindly loaned to us by The Glenfiddich Distillery, William Grant & Sons Ltd.
✨ Discover how each artwork represents the age and story of Glenfiddich's whiskies:
🥃 15 year old: These are the insides of the 32 wooden staves that when carefully crafted, shaped and bound together, form a whisky barrel. Their job is simple: to stand guard for 15 years.
🥃18 year old: Created for the 18 year old whisky, this sculpture is inspired by the steel hoops that hold a barrel together. For 18 years they bind the staves as the whisky matures, reimagined here as a continuous, helix-like "impossible" barrel.
🥃 21 year old: As whisky matures, a portion of the spirit gradually evaporates, a process known as the ‘Angel's Share.’ Drawing on the whisky-making folklore that this lost spirit is claimed by angels, the words 'for 21 years we take our share' were cut from the tops of the barrel staves for the 21 year old whisky.
🥃 30 year old: The oldest piece was created from a barrel top that was sanded back and re-burnt, symbolising the 11,000 days and nights spent maturing the distillery's oldest and most treasured 30 year old whisky.
