Springbank Cask 176 - 1992

The cask will hit the 30yr mark in a month's time, and can be bottled immediately if the buyer wishes. At the last re-gauge, the ABV was 50.5%, potentially yielding about 230 bottles.

This exceptional cask was stored in Campbeltown until the 17th of November 2021 at which point it was moved to Caledonia Casks Ltd, where it is stored currently. VCL Vintners have been managing this cask since 2017.

Originally the ABV of the cask was 69.3%, so the current 30yr ABV of 50.5% is a significant milestone for this cask. The otherworldly image produced by Ernie Button uses his unique drying process to capture the distillate from the whisky in this cask. As the NFT owner, the auction winner will own this 1 of 1 photograph.

We expect the reserve to be set at $225,000 (USD) on this cask.

Ernie Button is an award-winning photographer based in Phoenix, Arizona. His work has been exhibited internationally including in the United States, China, Scotland, and Europe. His photographs are in permanent collections including the Lishui Photography Museum in China, the Macallan Distillery in Scotland, the Phoenix Children's Hospital in Arizona, and the Southeast Museum of Photography in Florida, as well as in many private collections. His photography has also been featured in National Geographic magazine, the New York Times, Whisky Advocate, American Photo, Popular Photography, Esquire, Wired, Smithsonian, Whisky Quarterly, Popular Mechanics, Scientific American, and NPR to name a few. For more than a decade, he has investigated the dried remains of Scotch whisky through micro- photography, and in biannual journeys explored the beauty of Scotland and the creation of Scotch. He has an upcoming book entitled The Art of Whisky was released in May 2022 through Chronicle Books.

The Dried Remains of Single Malt Scotch is an internationally recognized project that Ernie has been working on for nearly 15 years. It is his tribute to the amazing complexity of Scotch whisky, which is born of just three ingredients, water, yeast, and barley; with crucial years spent resting in an oak cask. The idea for this project came to him when he put a used Scotch glass into the dishwasher after the glass had been left out overnight. As he did so, he noticed a patterned film of fine lines on the bottom of the glass where the dregs of the whisky had dried.

Through experimentation, he confirmed that these patterns can be created with just the smallest residue of whisky left in a glass and that nearly all aged whisky will produce the lines, given the right conditions. He discovered that, depending upon drying time, age of whisky, humidity, alcohol content, and glass shape, every result is unique, much like snowflakes.

He has been a photographer for virtually his entire adult life, exhibiting his photography internationally for over 20 years. He has always keenly observed the world around him, where he especially enjoys noticing the smaller details that otherwise may be ignored or overlooked. This ability to observe the smallest details led him to the Vanishing Spirits project. The complexity and detail of these images are even more intriguing when they suggest something beyond the form itself. The micro images of whisky reveal landscapes, terrestrial or extraterrestrial, otherwise not visible to the naked eye.

The NFT images are created by Ernie Button with Scotch whisky from each distillery that the auctioned casks come from, in most cases, from the cask itself. The Vanishing Spirits Collection presented to you by MetaCask and VCL Vintners.