THERE’s something about the south of France that makes the air feel full of hope. It wraps itself around you softly, like the start of something beautiful. The light moves differently here. It slides across the sea in shades of gold, rests on the olive trees, and makes everything shimmer with possibility.
When I arrive in Nice, the world feels calm again. October here carries its own kind of magic. The crowds have gone, leaving behind a quiet hum of life. The hills breathe easier, the coastline stretches unbothered, and you’re compelled to stillness.
The Dalmore Red Wine Cask Edition
The drive to Cap-Ferrat is quick, but I want it to last. The road curls along the coast, and the sea catches the light like liquid glass. When the gates of the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat appear, I know we’ve entered a different rhythm. The Four Seasons sits high above the Riviera, surrounded by gardens that seem to fall into the sea. It feels timeless, like it has seen a thousand stories unfold here and quietly held them all.
Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat | The Dalmore Red Wine Cask Edition
Inside, the atmosphere is hushed but full of life. Marble corridors, wide terraces, and that soft Riviera light pouring through the windows. Everything feels intentional, elegant, but never loud. It’s a place for quiet pleasures, for lingering breakfasts, for evenings that turn into nights without you noticing.
And it’s here that The Dalmore reveals its new creation, the Red Wine Cask Edition. The room glows in amber light. Glasses are lined up like small promises, catching the sun. I lift one and breathe in. The scent alone feels like a story: honey, citrus, and something deeper that I can’t quite name.
Whisky has never been just alcohol to me. It’s a treasure, a memory, an experience that unfolds slowly. It asks for your attention. It invites you to pause, to listen, to taste. Each sip feels like an invitation to be fully present, to savour, to connect, to linger. That is what real luxury feels like.
The Dalmore’s Red Wine Cask Edition carries that philosophy in every drop. Each whisky, aged 24, 34, and 43 years, has spent its final chapter resting in casks from Château Mont-Redon in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The flavours are layered and generous: red berries, dark chocolate, orange zest, honey. It’s as if time itself has been distilled into taste.
But it’s not just about what’s in the glass. It’s about what happens around it. The conversations that stretch into the night, the laughter that spills too freely, the friends you make simply because you’re all here, in this moment, tasting something extraordinary.
There’s a feeling that comes with evenings like this, a sense that you don’t need to plan or rush or know what comes next. You just stand still and let life unfold. You let the warmth of the whisky sink into you, the salt air fill your lungs, and the laughter of strangers turn into something familiar.
The Dalmore Red Wine Cask Edition
That’s what The Dalmore captures. Connection, culture, craft. It’s a celebration of things that last, the bonds we make, the stories we tell, the memories that stay long after the glass is empty.
Later, as the night settles over the Riviera, I step outside. The sea glows under the moonlight. I can hear the soft hum of the water against the rocks below. I think about how easily we rush through things, moments, conversations, experiences, and how rare it is to simply stop.
Here, with the scent of jasmine in the air and the lingering taste of whisky on my lips, I feel completely still. Completely present. Each breath feels like a toast to being alive. Each thought, a reminder that joy isn’t something we chase. It’s something that finds us when we finally slow down enough to notice it.
The air feels like promise. Like something beginning. Like your first ever sip of The Dalmore. Never to be replicated.
by Adina Ilie
The Dalmore Cask Curation Series: The Red Wine Edition will be available globally from 1 October 2025, priced at £36,100 / $44,450. Just 150 sets of these exquisite and exceptionally rare Single Malt Whiskies will be created.