Tain distillery sculpture toasts Pictish heritage
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A ROSS-SHIRE distillery is to unveil a spectacular stone sculpture to celebrate its signature single malt.
The spiralling structure takes its inspiration from carvings on a 1,300-year-old Pictish cross-slab found near Tain, home of the Glenmorangie Distillery.
The sculpture is a toast to the drinks company’s award-winning single malt whisky - Glenmorangie Signet – which features Pictish artwork on its bottle label.
The sculpture, named Rock Springs, is the creation of acclaimed environmental artist Dan Snow, a 63-year-old American.
It will be unveiled in the walled garden at Glenmorangie House, the company’s luxury corporate hospitality retreat at Hilton of Cadboll, near Tain, later this month.
It will also feature in a new advertising campaign for Glenmorangie Signet.
Made from some 80 tons of locally sourced stone, and reflecting the spiralling patterns of the Cadboll Stone, the swirling dry stone sculpture measures 32ft by 44ft by 4ft.
Dr Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie’s director of distilling and whisky creation, said: "Glenmorangie Signet epitomises our distillery’s communion with the landscape and heritage of its Highland home. In the whisky, we harness nature to create a masterpiece of distilling.
"It is fitting that we should mark this relationship with a monument borne of the landscape itself, paying homage to the elements which make this whisky so inspirational.
"Dan Snow’s work is a reminder of the beauty that can be achieved when art and nature work in harmony."
Dan Snow, from Vermont, spent eight weeks building his sculpture.
He worked alone, to create the piece, Rock Springs, which takes its name from the spiralling patterns intricately carved on the ancient Hilton of Cadboll Stone.
He said: "The more I see this sculpture, the more I am reminded of the rolling hills of Glenmorangie’s terroir. It now feels like the landscape is part of the work – just as the landscape is part of Glenmorangie Signet."
The Hilton of Cadboll Stone is one of the foremost pieces of early European sculpture. Now housed in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, the stone was carved around 800AD by the Picts to celebrate their conversion to Christianity.
In 1998, local sculptor Barry Grove was commissioned to carve a replica of the stone and it now stands near the site of the original stone.
• First released in 2008, Glenmorangie Signet has won a series of industry awards and retails at £144.99.
