The Season’s Most Coveted Bottles To Round Out The Year

A trio of extraordinary releases marks the close of the year, from art-infused champagne collaborations to a Speyside rarity half a century in the making.

The end of the year draws near, and it’s going out in style by the looks of some eye-catching releases in recent weeks. We’ve got a shower of champagne just in time for the festivities, as well as a very special Speyside expression decades in the making, now available by the glass in what constitutes a once-in-a-lifetime tasting experience. But let’s not drag it out, and instead get ourselves acquainted with the liquid highlights deserving your final toast of the year.

Dom Pérignon x Takashi Murakami
Dom Pérignon and Takashi Murakami have joined forces to unveil two exquisite limited editions in the Dom Pérignon Vintage 2015 and Dom Pérignon Rosé Vintage 2010. The maison’s timeless sophistication is channelled here through Murakami’s singularly unique vantage point, seeing its classic aesthetic imbued with the artist’s playful pops of colour and free-spirited creativity.

Entangling his vibrant Superflat universe with Dom Pérignon’s dimensions, Murakami says: “Through my collaboration with Dom Pérignon, I wanted to express a form of time travel. My goal is to remain relevant in 100 or 200 years and to transcend time. When the label has aged, and I am gone, and my children are gone, I hope that people in the future, when they see it, will reimagine 2025 in their own minds.”

Moët & Chandon
To usher in the festive season, Moët & Chandon dresses their Moët Impérial in a striking shade of red—a colour chosen to symbolise vitality suffused with undercurrents of communal joy. In keeping with its conviction of life being all the richer when celebrated as a collective, the grand old champagne house upholds its longstanding tradition of conviviality. Cellar Master Benoît Gouez’s annually renewed pursuit of balance sees the champagne retain its familiar poise, ready, as always, to preside over the year’s cherished dinners, glittering parties, and the final, collective lift of the season’s spirit.

The Lanesborough
The Lanesborough has added a new jewel to The Library Bar’s sparkling collection in The Balvenie 50 (First Edition), which is perhaps its brightest yet. Drawn from a single European oak cask and tended to across two generations of Malt Masters, it is the opening salvo of a trilogy that details five decades of immaculate craft at the Speyside distillery. With just 125 bottles released each year, it remains among The Balvenie’s most elusive and distinguished releases—a whisky whose scarcity feels entirely earned.

Kelsey McKechnie, who took the baton on this release from legendary Malt Master David Stewart, describes it as “a testament to the craftsmanship that has defined our liquid over the past 50 years. The unique characteristics of these rare casks come together to create a truly exceptional experience and set a new benchmark for our contribution to the rare and extraordinary whisky market at Balvenie.”