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Glenfiddich’s Grand Series of luxury whiskies are defined by their combination of the very oldest and finest single malt whiskies in the distiller’s inventory with cask finishes that bring in flavors from other cultures—like ex-Awamori casks from Japan, or in this case, French Bordeaux wine casks.

I traveled to the Glenfiddich distillery in Speyside, Scotland’s whisky heartland, to taste the new Grand Château in the very warehouse where whisky was aged. Matured for a total of 31 years, the single malt spent 22 years in American oak casks and then nine years in the French oak Bordeaux casks where they gained new vibrance, a richer flavor, and a long and elegant finish. 

With red wine notes overlaying what is already a rich and extraordinary classic single malt, Grand Château delivers a wide flavor profile that ranges from vanilla to slightly savory oak, spice, and nuttiness, into a spectrum of bold, fruity aromas and hints of ripe, dark berries. Unquestionably indulgent, the Bordeaux influence has the added benefit of allowing it to pair beautifully with food. While wine-cask finishing is popular in whisky making, finishing in Bordeaux casks specifically is rarer. 

“Knowing when Grand Château was ready was just a gut feel,” says Brian Kinsman, Master Blender at William Grant & Sons, Glenfiddich’s family-owned parent company. Kinsman has a background in chemistry but says that while the scientific part of the process is important, knowing when a whisky is right is more about gut factors like smell and feeling. He was already in his current role when the Bordeaux casks first became available, in the kind of “momentary opportunity in time” he says makes for the most unique whiskies. Kinsman says he was not looking for the casks when the opportunity crossed his path. 

“We started looking at the casks, speaking to the coopers, nosing them, and thinking what might work,” says Kinsman, calling it one of the “little serendipitous moments” that he is constantly on the lookout for. “There was never a master plan,” he says, “because it genuinely started as an experiment and then it goes on for years, and then you eventually make that gut decision that ‘This feels like a pretty damn good whisky to bottle.’” 

Making this choice of when to bottle is always “an educated guess,” says Kinsman, and “The older that it gets, the more important it is that your guess is right.” For whisky this mature, every one of the casks in Grand Château was one he knew. That’s because while he can’t check every cask of younger whiskies, for those that stick around long enough, “gradually every cask becomes known to us, and you say, that one feels like a vintage.” 

When a fellow journalist pointed out that selling a 31-year-old Scotch is not nearly as profitable as selling two 15-year-old batches back to back, a Grant family member who joined us for the tasting quipped back with a grin: “We don’t make it because it’s profitable,” said Kirsten Grant Meikle, a fifth-generation family member. “We make it because we can.” 

This point, for Kinsman, is one of the best perks of working for a family-owned company. “The ability to not worry about the bottom line is huge,” he says. “Economically, it doesn’t always make sense, but if it’s the right thing to do, we’ll do it.”

Knowing when to bottle a whisky this special is Kinsman’s domain, but when it came to choosing a bottle worthy of it, Glenfiddich partnered with artist André Saraiva to create two limited-edition packages for Grand Château. One has a bright and whimsical watercolor print inside the box, and the other (limited to just 24 available in the U.S.) are “Artist Editions” with the artist’s signature motifs on the outside of the box. $2,100

One of the most covetable, affordable and stylish watch collaborations of the past few years is ready for liftoff once again, as luxury watchmaker Omega teams up with Swatch for their latest MoonSwatc release.

The Omega x Swatch ‘Mission to Earthphase’ Moonswatch joins an already-impressive rotation of MoonSwatch timepieces starting November 2nd, and at $325, one imagines it’ll sell quickly. A map provided by Swatch shows upcoming availability at 21 stores across North America.

Elsewhere, enthusiasts have had luck tracking down other MoonSwatch timepieces in locales like London, Amsterdam and Paris. On luxury resale site StockX, the full collection of the first run of the Omega x Swatch partnership fetches more than $3,500, and other editions of the Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch resell for as much as five times the original asking price. Prices for new timepieces tend to hover between about $280 and $500, according to StockX.

The soon-to-be-envy-inducing Earthphase is another clever play on a famed Omega timepiece, this time with some highly desirable bells and whistles. It features a moonphase indicator, a jaw-dropping feature in its own right on a sub-$400 watch, and a first-of-its-kind ‘Earthphase’ indicator rounds out the dial handsomely.

The Earthphase indicator breaks new ground in the watchmaking business, using UV ink to help the oceanic portions of the Earthphase stand out via a blue glow beneath UV light. The curious dial design rests on a functional black Velcro strap and is housed within a grey 42mm Bioceramic case for durability and a lightweight feel.

The moonphase disc rotates in the 2-o’clock subdial, while the Earthphase rotates within the 10-o’clock subdial. The dial also boasts a grainy texture reminiscent of the Moon’s surface, and the battery cover housing its quartz movement is complete with an imprint of the foot of Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the Moon.

It’s but the latest and greatest entry in a catalog that’s proven a smash hit. The Mission on Earth Moonswatch brought the buzzed-about collaboration back onto shelves if briefly earlier this year, drawing on intergalactic style inspiration. A limited-edition “Snoopy” Moonswatch also caught the attention of collectors this past spring.

No word yet on how many units are available of the latest Omega x Swatch collection, but it’s a safe bet that they’ll go quickly. Secure yours accordingly.