Whisky Or Art? Ladyburn’s Groundbreaking Collaboration With Artist Ha Chong-Hyun

William Grant & Sons has unveiled a remarkable collaboration between the legendary closed Ladyburn Distillery and renowned Korean artist Ha Chong-Hyun. The Ladyburn Ha Chong-Hyun Edition is an exclusive ten bottle collection from the closed distillery, priced at approximately $220,000 for the set. The whisky and the curated collection of labels represents more than just a luxury whisky release—it embodies the intersection of two pioneering forces that shaped their respective crafts during the transformative 1970s.

The Ladyburn distillery’s existence may have been brief, but it left an indelible mark on Scottish whisky-making. While in 1970s Korea, Ha Chong-Hyun was simultaneously revolutionizing contemporary art. Their parallel journeys of innovation are now reflected in a collection that bridges the boundaries between fine art and premium spirits. I spoke to the team behind the collection to find out more about this exclusive collaboration.

The Innovation of Ladyburn

The Ladyburn distillery was founded in 1966 at William Grant & Sons’ grain whisky distillery Girvan, during the 1960s whisky boom. It produced whisky for just 9 years before it was dismantled to make way for an expansion at Girvan. The few casks that remain from the distinctive lowland single malt scotch distillery has become something of a legend. The new release comprises two 50-year-old casks, both distilled on 31 May 1973 and matured in refill American oak barrels.

“The 1970s was a decade marked by disruption, innovation and creativity,” explained Jonathan Driver of William Grant & Sons Private Client Division over an email to discuss the new collection. Ladyburn embodied this spirit of revolution and though it operated for a few short years the distillery was ahead of its time in many ways.

Driver continued, “simultaneously, Ha Chong-Hyun pioneered the Bae-ap-bub process, transforming physically demanding studio work into poignant abstract compositions—a groundbreaking technique that became his hallmark. During this pivotal period, both Ladyburn’s Distillery and Ha Chong-Hyun defied convention, changing the course of their craft. These legacies endure, continuing to inspire and shape the worlds of whisky and art today.”

“Ladyburn Distillery introduced significant industrial design innovations that have continued to influence whisky distilling long after its closure in 1975, allowing other Grant distilleries to thrive.” added Brian Kinsman, William Grant & Sons Malt Master.

“The Ladyburn Distillery was a very William Grant way to do things—always going to the extremes and finding new innovative things to try. If you came back to Ladyburn in 1966, it wouldn’t really have looked like any other distillery in Scotland at the time.”

Today, the few remaining Ladyburn casks are extremely rare. Each holds whisky from a pivotal moment in distilling history, and deciding when they are ready to be presented to the whisky loving world is as important a moment as its creation all those years ago.

The Artist’s Artist

Ha Chong-Hyun was equally revolutionary in Korea at the time. He pioneered Bae-ap-bub, which literally translates to “back-pressure-method,” where he would paint the reverse side of his canvas and push the paint through. It was innovative, unique and a product of his time, where hemp from burlap sacks was his canvas and barbed wire and metal coils were easier to get hold of than what would have been deemed “traditional” painting supplies.

“Ha Chong-Hyun has earned the status of an ‘Artist’s Artist’, having built a truly authentic connection with the international art world. Legacy is a connecting thread of this partnership, blending together the worlds of rare single malt and contemporary art,” added Driver when I asked about their decision to work with Ha Chong-Hyun for the collection.

For Ha Chong-Hyun, art and time are deeply connected and this philosophy is mirrored in whisky-making. “Whisky is enticing in its regard to its association with time, how it matures and changes with the accumulation of time. A painting is also an organic being that breathes air, that does not cease to communicate with the passage of time that it lives through. My experimentation of material, in particular my usage of paint, has been a portrait of such passage of time.”

A Curated Collection Of Art And Whisky

The Ladyburn Ha Chong-Hyun Edition represents an extraordinary marriage of whisky and art across releases from two casks. Together they create a collection that appeals to whisky and art collectors and introduces both to new audiences.

For cask 3219 ten collections of ten bottles have been curated to showcase ten different artworks from Ha’s celebrated Conjunction series. Cask 3216 will be released as 85 numbered bottles each carrying Conjunction 78-7, a piece personally selected by the artist. Ha Chong-Hyun in collaboration with Seoul’s prestigious Kukje Gallery has personally curated the pieces for their suitability to be seen and consumed as a whisky bottle label.

“I have always thought that viewing my work is a physical experience,” Ha Chong-Hyun explained. “With this collaboration connecting the image of my works against the landscape of this rare and special whisky, the scale has of course changed, but it is interesting to see how the shift has brought about a new dimension and connection with the viewer.”

For me this collaboration extends the bridge between premium whisky releases and art that we are seeing more and more of within the industry. The Ladyburn Ha Chong-Hyun Edition captures a moment when two distinct innovative forces from the 1970s have finally converged in time, and will hopefully bring more consumers to each sphere of interest and collecting.

As Ha Chong-Hyun summarized efficiently; “The collaboration of these two rare works of art and craft, each with their own rich story of innovation and fifty-year legacy, has come together to create a new and special collectible object d’art.”