There are moments in this industry when a release lands on your desk and the sheer ambition of the thing demands you sit with it before putting pen to paper. The Prima and Ultima Fourth Release is one of those moments. This is Diageo's ultra-premium collection — eight single malts, each drawn from a different distillery within their considerable stable, bottled at what I'd call honest strength. At 51.77% ABV across the set average, these are whiskies that have not been diluted into polite submission. They arrive as they are, and you take them on their terms.
At £45,500 for the complete eight-bottle set, we are firmly in the territory of collector releases. Let me be direct about that. This is not a casual purchase. It is a curated library of single malts, each bottle representing a specific distillery's character captured at a particular point in time. The value proposition here is not in any single dram — it is in the breadth of the collection, the curation, and the access to casks that would otherwise never see the light of a retail shelf.
What to Expect
Without confirmed distillery details for the individual bottlings in this fourth chapter, I won't speculate on specific provenance. What I can tell you is that previous Prima and Ultima releases have drawn from distilleries spanning the full breadth of Scotland's whisky-producing regions — from coastal Islay warehouses to the gentle rolling lands of Speyside and beyond. If the fourth release follows suit, expect a set designed to showcase range rather than uniformity. That is the entire point of the collection: diversity within a framework of excellence.
The NAS designation across the set should not concern serious buyers. Age statements are a useful shorthand, but at this level of curation, the liquid has been selected by nose and palate, not by calendar. The bottling strength of 51.77% suggests casks chosen for intensity and completeness — whiskies that carry enough weight and complexity to reward extended time in the glass.
The Verdict
I'm giving the Prima and Ultima Fourth Release a 7.7 out of 10. That is a strong score, and I want to explain why it sits where it does. The quality of liquid in these collections has historically been beyond reproach — Diageo has access to casks that simply do not exist elsewhere, and their blending team knows how to select single cask bottlings that tell a story. The breadth of the set, the bottling strength, and the collector presentation all speak to a release that has been assembled with genuine care.
Where I hold back slightly is on accessibility. At forty-five thousand pounds, this is a release that most whisky lovers will never open, and there is something faintly melancholic about extraordinary spirit that lives behind glass rather than in a glass. The rating reflects the quality of what is in the bottles — which is, by any reasonable measure, exceptional — tempered by the reality that price alone does not make a whisky great. What makes it great is what happens when you pour it. And what happens here, based on my experience with this collection, is very good indeed.
Best Served
If you are fortunate enough to open any bottle from this set, serve it neat in a tulip-shaped nosing glass at room temperature. Give it ten minutes to breathe after pouring. Add a few drops of still water only after your first neat tasting — at 51.77%, a splash will open the spirit considerably without diminishing it. This is not a whisky for cocktails or casual mixing. It is a whisky for a quiet evening, full attention, and the kind of company that understands why you are being careful with the pour.
