Master of Malt and Studio Minerva launch The Islay whisky brand

Master of Malt and luxury design agency Studio Minerva have launched a new premium whisky brand called ‘The Islay’. The collaboration aims to celebrate the collective character of the Islay region rather than focusing on individual distilleries.

The brand introduces a ‘continuous single-cask model’, which is described as a first for Scotch whisky. Under this system, each bottle is drawn from a single cask, but once a cask is depleted, the brand moves to the next cask while maintaining the same name, age statement, and strength. This allows for a permanent, always-available range that retains the individuality of single-cask bottling.

The debut collection, curated by Dr Samuel J. Simmons, includes three releases: 16 Year Old Basalt, 20 Year Old Red Sandstone, and 30 Year Old Quartzite. All whiskies are distilled and matured on Islay, are never chill-filtered or colored, and are brought to 46.3% ABV through a slow reduction process.