This past summer I began thinking about the approaching holiday season and was searching for a truly special gift idea to feature on ForScotchLovers.com.  I wanted something that was representational of the whisky experience...words like strength, heritage, individuality, fortitude, wisdom, inspiration and integrity kept coming to mind...that was out of the ordinary, and would have lasting value with years of enjoyment.

One July night while enjoying a dram at the Hudson House in Nyack NY (one of my favorites), proprietor and good friend Matt Hudson told me about a guy he knew who engraved bottles, and offered to introduce me to him. 

A week later I drove up the Palisades Parkway to Inner Light Crystal Studios and spent a few hours with artist David Sugar who, along with his partner artist Carol Iselin, are the creative minds behind the studio's designs. My afternoon was spent frozen in a state of awe. 

Over the next several weeks we went back and forth on ideas, looking at sketch concepts of inspirational images and searching for the right whisky bottle to use as a canvas. Where we landed, so to speak, was on as image of a Bald Eagle that was so striking that...well see it for yourself. 

And where better to have that eagle perched than atop a Fine Oak..Macallan Fine Oak 21 years old to be exact.

So I decided to commission Inner Light Crystal to produce a limited edition of exactly twenty-one (21) engraved bottles of Macallan Fine Oak 21 years old whisky. Each bottle is signed by the artists and individually numbered and will be accompanied by a pair of CelticMalts Spirits Glasses, engraved with wonderful quotes, and a certificate of authenticity signed by the artists. 

The combination of this breathtaking engraving, on a bottle of incomparably delicious and enjoyable Macallan Fine Oak 21 whisky, creates an artistic combination that will be enjoyable for a lifetime (the bottle can always be refilled). And while there are no certain predictors of future values of artwork like these bottles, other designs by Inner Light Crystal Studios have commanded top-dollar at recent auctions/ galleries  like the Napa Valley Wine Auction, the Wine Spectator Auction, at the ACA Gallery in Chelsea NYC as well as the Heller Glass Gallery in NYC. 

About the artists                                               Glass artists Carol Iselin and Dave Sugar are the creative minds and partners behind Inner Light Crystal Studios in New York, a design studio they started almost 30 years ago. Through their collaborative efforts their artistic style has allowed them to push the cutting-edge of glass art technology, resulting in breathtaking and innovative installations at some of the worlds leading museums (includingThe Smithsonian Institution in Wash. DC; The Statue of Liberty National Monument Museum in NY, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning NY and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY) and highly sought-after works of art.

Their  engraved bottles have been collected by world leaders (every president since/including Ronald Reagan, Jacque Chirac, John Major, General Colin Powell and others); Moguls of Business (including Clive Davis, Malcolm & Tim Forbes, Harry Helmsley, Armand Hammer and Mort Zuckerman...);  Artists (including Miles Davis, Julio Iglesias, Mick Jagger, Sean Penn, Luther Van Dross, Sean Coombs, and Frank Sinatra...); and Luminaries (HRH Prince William, Brooke Astor, Sir Gordon White, Bill Cosby, Lorne Michaels, Paul Prudhomme and  Emeril Lagasse...).  For more information on Inner Light Crystal Studios, please visit their website.