La Maison du Whisky, specialising in exceptional spirits, has always stood out by constantly building bridges with other universes such as photography, design, painting, crafts and even gastronomy.
Every year, its catalogue unveils a new collection of exclusive creations, featuring a host of collaborations with artists from the international scene, as well as young talents invited to adorn the labels of selected ranges (Artist, Artist Collective) or limited editions by prestigious distilleries such as Chichibu or Caroni.
This aesthetic research goes hand in hand with the demanding selection process carried out with distilleries and brands from around the world, in order to highlight and showcase the rarest bottles.
Below is an introduction to some of Foundations' finest collaborations.
ARTIST #14
La Maison du Whisky's affinity with art was first expressed with the launch of the Artist #1 range in 2011 featuring label designs by Taiwanese artist Warren Khong. In 2024, for the fourteenth edition of the collection, La Maison du Whisky is launching two ranges, illustrated by different artists, Victor Ekpuk and Logovarda.
ARTIST COLLECTIVE 7.0
Reflecting the richness and diversity of Scottish malts, the Artist Collective range showcases a wide variety of styles, ageing and production regions through small batches selected from various distilleries. This seventh edition gathers six single malts from Speyside, the Highlands and Islay, distilled between 2012 and 2017. Like the Artist range of cask strength single malts, Artist Collective renews its visual identity every year. This year's labels are illustrated by visual artist Katrin Bremermann, with the support of the Beaux Arts Institute, a leading name in artistic partnerships.
CHICHIBU x KUNIHIKO MORIGUCHI
The Japanese Chichibu distillery, founded in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto, unveils a new series of four single casks distilled between 2013 and 2016, with labels designed by Kunihiko Moriguchi. Elevated to the rank of Living National Treasure, the Japanese artist has profoundly revived the tradition of yuzen, a three-hundred-year-old fabric-dyeing technique reserved for ceremonial kimonos. Chichibu's new series pays tribute to this art form, which continues to fascinate through its timeless beauty and the exceptional skills it requires.
MARS x KURASHIMA
This year, the Japanese Mars distillery presents a collection of five single casks produced at Komagatake (formerly known as Shinshu) and Tsunuki. One of these single malts has been aged in the Yakushima cellars. For the second year running, artist and designer Takahiro Kurashima has designed the labels for these single casks. His illustrations are inspired by the distilleries' iconic architectural features: the Komagatake pagoda, the Yakushima cellars and the Tsunuki tower. Transformed into patterns, these shapes are duplicated and arranged in a succession of rosettes. Pink, yellow, ochre, the colours evoke the aromatic and flavour profile of the different single malts in the range.
HOY COMO AYER , CUBA 1956
Distilled in 1956, in the midst of the revolution, the Hoy Como Ayer, Cuba 1956 cuvée selected by La Maison & Velier pays tribute to the golden age of Cuban rum. At the end of the Second World War, the Caribbean island was home to 69 distilleries, including Bacardi, founded in 1862, Methuselah (1872) and La Vizcaya (1878), where Havana Club rum was produced. On 13 October 1960, the nineteen remaining distilleries and one hundred and five sugar estates were nationalised. With a maturity of expression that compels admiration and encourages contemplation, this rum traces almost seventy years of a history rich in significant events, evoking images that are very much universal. The label features a painting by Cuban artist Aconcha, Hoy Como Ayer (Today as Yesterday): a title rich in meaning for a Cuban single cask of such a remarkable age.
MAGNUM SERIES #2
In 2021, the Italian bottler Velier launched a range of rum bottlings in collaboration with the Magnum press agency. Founded in 1947 by some of the greatest names in photography, including Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson, this legendary agency represents some of the world's greatest photojournalists. It champions humanist and documentary photojournalism, covering historic moments as well as intimate, everyday scenes. Following Elliott Erwitt in 2021, the second edition of the Magnum range honours the American photographer Alex Webb, born in 1952 and a member of the press agency since 1979. This new collection brings together three old rums from the Caribbean (Hampden LROK 13 Year Old 2010, Saint James 12 Year Old 2010 and Clarendon 10 Year Old 2014 MBS) as well as a 2015 vintage from the Australian distillery Beenleigh.
CARONI PARADISE
Founded in 1918, Caroni, Trinidad and Tobago's state-owned distillery, closed its doors in 2003 after 84 years of activity, against a backdrop of major restructuring in the sugar industry and increased international competition from rum producers. All remaining stocks were bought out in 2004 by the Italian bottler Velier, who had kept them in storage on the Caribbean island until 2019. The remaining casks were then moved to the Cognac region of France to be decanted into glass demi-johns. In 2021, a first series of 2 single casks, bottled in hand-blown bottles, was launched under the name Caroni Paradise. For the third consecutive year, this new collection, comprising six vintages distilled between 1994 and 2000, is illustrated with works by Trinidadian artist Che Lovelace.
