Leith whisky bottler Blind Summit unveils its rarest Macallan release to date

A Leith whisky bottler has unveiled its most exclusive release to date, with just 30 sets of rare 35-year-old Macallan single malts available worldwide. Blind Summit Whisky launched the two expressions in September 2026, with both whiskies distilled in 1989 and drawn from the same original cask. Blind Summit - Macallan. (Image: Supplied) The company split the cask to create two distinct releases, with each whisky individually finished in a different fortified wine or rum cask. One expression was finished in Rivesaltes fortified wine casks, designed to develop dried fruit and nutty characteristics, while the second was finished in Barbados rum casks to bring out brighter tropical flavours. Each 50cl bottle is priced at £1,250, with the two-bottle set available for £2,500. Blind Summit was founded by James Zorab and Jamie Dawson, who have more than 40 years of combined experience across whisky and fine wine. The Leith business has built a reputation around cask selection and finishing and has released more than 50 whiskies to date. The latest Macallan release is intended to demonstrate a more experimental approach to finishing, moving away from the more familiar Oloroso cask style associated with many Macallan releases. The two whiskies share the same distillation and original cask but have been developed through separate finishing processes, giving buyers two different interpretations of the same spirit. The presentation has also been designed as a collector-focused product, with each pair housed in Blind Summit's signature 50cl packaging. The bottles feature mirrored labels which combine to form one continuous piece of artwork when displayed together. The artwork was created with Leith-based Studio Reekee, which has worked with Blind Summit on previous releases. The limited-edition sets are being sold through Blind Summit's website, directly via the company and through its worldwide trade partners. Read more James Zorab, co-founder and whiskymaker at Blind Summit, said: "Our responsibility with a whisky of this age was to respect what the years in cask had already achieved. "Each finishing cask was chosen to build on the character of the spirit rather than change it, and both were monitored closely throughout so that the finish never overtook the whisky. "What we have bottled is two honest expressions of one exceptional cask." Jamie Dawson, co-founder of Blind Summit, said: "Sometimes you have to be bold. "We didn't want to release another Macallan finished in Oloroso simply because that's what's expected. "Splitting the cask gave us the opportunity to explore two very different finishing journeys while making sure the character of the original whisky always remained at the heart of both expressions. "The result is two distinct single malts with a common ancestry."