ARTIST #15 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Launched with the Artist #15 Something in the Water series, The Dark Side of the Moon is an exploration of sherry cask ageing through six single casks, distilled between 1989 and 2015. From oloroso to pedro ximénez, these expressions reveal the varied facets of Andalusian influence.

The name, of course, deliberately references a monument of 1970s music, but it also echoes a series of Velier bottlings: Glen Grants of various vintages, aged in sherry casks, handpicked from Signatory Vintage’s cellars in 1993. These bottlings were among the very first to be selected by Velier CEO Luca

Gargano when the Italian distributor was just beginning to import whisky, and serve as a symbolic origin for this new collection—consider it a sort of long-delayed sequel, twenty-two years on.

This new series is made up of single malts from Speyside (Benrinnes, Linkwood, Mortlach, and one anonymous distillery) and the Highlands (Ben Nevis, Ardmore), and is illustrated by South African artist Sthenjwa Luthuli. One of his pieces, chosen to adorn the label of “The Dark Side of the M" bottling is actually part of Luca Gargano’s private collection. Luthuli was born in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in 1991, and his work is fed by Zulu culture, reinterpreting its motifs and traditional objects —fabrics, pearls, headdresses, ritual shields— through a contemporary lens. He creates hypnotic compositions, akin to abstract or op art and full of dancing silhouettes, on wood panels which he sculpts, polishes, and paints by hand.

The Dark Side of the Moon series ref lects the intersection of influences that so enrich the world of spirits. Each bottling brings together a terroir, a style of ageing, and a work of art, making each tasting experience its own exploration of tradition, technique, and aesthetics.