A King’s Dram

GlenDronach’s latest tie-in with the Kingsman franchise is a powerful 29-year-old sherried single malt whisky.

Words: Wei-Yu Wang Photography: Peter Dibdin

THE ACTION-SPY FILM franchise Kingsman is all about the best of traditional British practices, and this would of course include Scotch whisky. GlenDronach has once again stepped up to provide it, in the form of a limited-edition release aged nearly 30 years. Revealed late 2020, it celebrates the third film of the series, The King’s Man, a prequel set during World War I. Originally set for release in early 2021, its debut was instead pushedto 22Decemberafterseveralpandemic-induceddelays.

GlenDronach came to be involved with this big-budget Hollywood production somewhat by chance. A major setting for the second film, Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), was an American bourbon distillery. For this, the producers worked with drinks conglomerate Brown-Forman, which owns Jack Daniels and Old Forester, among other labels. As it happened, that same year, Brown-Forman acquired a trio of Scottish distilleries, GlenDronach among them. As it also happened, Kingsman director, writer and producer Matthew Vaughn is a big fan of GlenDronach. The Kingsman Edition 1991 Vintage was thus released as a tie-in with The Golden Circle.

This and facing pages: the GlenDronach Kingsman Edition 1989 Vintage will be highly collectible for whisky connoisseurs and Kingsman film fans worldwide.

“It was one of these things where the stars align and things come together, ” explains Stewart Buchanan, global brand ambassador for GlenDronach. “It was something that we, as a company, as a distillery, didn’t pursue. It was actually the director coming to us. So, very unusual in that respect, that it just so happened that GlenDronach was his favourite whisky, and he reached out and we were able to very quickly turn over the first one. ”

Vaughn knows his spirits, Buchanan says. “He likes to enjoy his whisky. He likes to sit back with friends,and just sip and savour, as we say. So I think he’s definitely more into that sherry, rich style that GlenDronach is famed for, ” he muses of the London-born film-maker. “GlenDronach, you can’t rush it, especially when you get into vintage GlenDronach. You want to just sit there with that glass and take half an hour, one hour, getting the full, big flavour profile and aroma from that. ”

The tie-in with the new film is the Kingsman Edition 1989 Vintage, a 29-year-old single malt aged in oloroso sherry casks with a secondary maturation in Pedro Ximinez casks. It was crafted by GlenDronach master blender Rachel Barrie, with input from Vaughn. GlenDronach’s traditional, robust Highland style of spirit is married to the big, rich, dark fruit nature of the oloroso cask, picking up a hint of oaky spice in the process. “You’re looking at that balance of the lovely oldschool nature of the oloroso: tannins, big spice, dried fruits, ” Buchanan elaborates. “But then making sure you’re bringing in the Pedro Ximinez, you’re keeping the vibrancy and fruit, and that little bit of sweetness. ” ‘GlenDronach’ means ‘valley of the brambles’ , he reminds us. “It’s the Pedro Ximinez that accentuates that bramble blackberry note. So, beautiful combination of the two. ” The final bottling, of which only 3,052 examples were created, is offered at 50.1 per cent ABV and is an exemplar of the full-bodied sherried whisky experience.

The whisky’s 29-year-old age was decided in part as a tribute to the oldest bottle of GlenDronach in the distillery’s possession. That is also 29 years old and was bottled in 1913, just before the start of World War I. It carries with it a poignant story: a group of friends each bought a bottle of GlenDronach before being sent out to fight in what was, at the time, the war to end all wars. Only one returned. His bottle was later gifted to the distillery, unopened. It stays unopened, a tribute to the friends and lives lost during the conflict.

RETUNING TO THE BELLE EPOQUE

Obsidian gallery’s Harry Fane on collecting, buyer’s regret (or lack thereof) and running (not walking) around Hyde Park.

Words: Paige Reddinger Photography: Dylan Thomas

OVER THE PAST four decades, Harry Fane has become the go-to source for vintage Cartier watches and jewellery, which he sells out of his private gallery, Obsidian, in London’s Mayfair. He began his career at Sotheby’s London, Los Angeles and New York, before venturing off on his own to sell American art, eventually homing in on smaller collectibles. Looking for a coveted Cartier Crash timepiece? Fane sold the last of 20 to be made in the ultra-rare London series, but is known for hunting down equally rare models. Need the delicate mechanism of a Cartier Mystery Clock repaired? His team has restored plenty over the years. In fact, he has had a long working relationship with the Cartier Museum and a little while ago was involved in discussions with its executives on the reintroduction of a past model. “When they reintroduced the Cintrée, ” says Fane, “I was very much a part of that process. ”

I probably use all the auction and antiques apps, like Christie’s and Sotheby’s. If you’re lucky enough that you have relationships with some people at the auction houses, then you’re looked after well, but if you’re a nameless person calling up to get information, it’s a bloody jungle. ‘Buyer beware’ has never been truer. There are a lot of shenanigans going on.

In my world, you buy what you can and there’s no point in regretting what you don’t buy. There are things I look back at over my career and think, “My God, I must have been mad!” But I don’t think there’s any point in being sentimental.

I work with quite a few dealers. There’s no point in naming them because it would be the ones who I don’t name that would be upset. But there are three things that everyone should look for with dealers: knowledge, a good eye and honesty. Today, so much of the art world has been polluted by money. People know more about the monetary aspect than they do about the work of art. And that is sad.

The most recent thing I added to my collection is a diamond-set bangle made by Cartier, London, in the 1930s. This bangle is studded with diamonds of different shapes and cuts and is an incredible example of the sophistication of the Cartier, London, designers and craftsmen. Likewise, I have recently acquired a multi-gem, flower brooch also made by Cartier, London, but in the 1950s. It is so vibrant and luscious; it’s hard to tear one’s eyes away from it.

I still read books. The last ones I read were The House of Fragile Things by James McAuley and the Henry ‘Chips’ Channon diaries. Channon was an American who lived in England in the 1920s and 1930s. He was a tremendous diarist and this book is aristocrat soup. It’s just pages and pages and pages of the goings-on of the British aristocracy. Before that, I read When Paris Sizzled by Mary McAuliffe, which is very much up my street because it’s all about Paris in the 1920s.

In London, my favourite tables are in the Robin Birley stable, like Oswald’s and Hertford Street. The best tailor in London is a man named John Pearse on Meard Street. He makes clothes for everybody, including Sir Paul McCartney.

Every age brings different advantages. One always wishes they could go back to being 21, but I wouldn’t want to repeat the agonies of being 21. I’m equally content where I am now, but some of the attributes I had at 21 I wouldn’t mind having now. I used to think that I ran like a gazelle around Hyde Park every morning. But the other day a woman came into my office and said, “Oh, I know you. I see you walking in Hyde Park. ”

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SHOPPING, A LA MODE

Stumped by what to get friends and family for the holidays? There’s a Robb Report Ultimate Gift Guide for that (see our December issue), but perusing the shelves of a major luxury retailer can help, too, we suppose. In Harrods and Neiman Marcus, you have two of the finest stores that have long histories of pulling out all the stops for the festive season. Which is more worthy of your big annual splurge?

Harrods VS Neiman Marcus

FOUNDED BY

Henry Charles Harrod in 1849. It was originally a grocery store, which goes a long way in explaining the first floor’s culinary Disneyland.

MOTTO

Omnia, Omnibus, Ubique, or ‘All Things, for All People, Everywhere’ . A better version might be Omnia, Divitibus, Ubique, or ‘All Things, for the Affluent, Everywhere’ .

CREATURE FEATURE

An Egyptian cobra guarded a pair of US$120,000 Rene Caovilla diamond-encrusted shoes in 2007. (Snake not included with purchase.)

DID IT FIRST

Installation of an escalator, or moving staircase as it was referred to then, in England. The year was 1898; traumatised customers were offered brandy and smelling salts to calm their nerves once they reached the top.

WEIRDEST THING SOLD

A ‘Welcome Present for Friends at the Front’ during World War I. The kit contained cocaine, morphine and syringes.

PIVOT

Shuttered its pet department in 2014 to make way for a women’s fashion floor, trading a pet spa, diamond-studded collars and live animals for skirts and dresses.

GOOD EATS

The sprawling food hall includes selections of chocolate wine, sushi and plenty of caviar. A bell rings every half hour to signal the arrival of fresh bread.

ALSO KNOWN AS

Londonist referred to the store as a “louche palace for the bolshy” in 2015.

FOUNDED BY

Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman and her husband, AL Neiman, in 1907. They passed on an opportunity to invest in the barely-on-the-radar Coca-Cola brand to make it happen. Whoops.

MOTTO

Its most notable slogan is its holiday one, which changes every year. For 2021, it was ‘Celebrate Big, Love Even Bigger’ , which is corporate-speak for’All Things, for the Affluent, Everywhere’ .

CREATURE FEATURE

One of the brand’s first Christmas-catalogue offerings was a live Black Angus steer with, erm, an accompanying roast-beef cart.

DID IT FIRST

In 1984, Neiman’s became the first luxury retailer to have a customer-loyalty programme. Spend US$10,000 a year and a concierge will book dinners and arrange travel for you.

WEIRDEST THING SOLD

His-and-hers mummy cases in its 1971 Christmas catalogue. When they arrived at the Florida store, the manager found a genuine corpse inside one.

PIVOT

Shuttered its New York City store in Hudson Yards after just 16 months there, despite having signed a 50-year lease. Turns out, plans change. (Read: Chapter 11.)

GOOD EATS

In keeping with its carnivore theme, you can buy whole turkeys at Neiman’s online store.

ALSO KNOWN AS

Foes and fans alike call it Needless Markup.