A one-of-a-kind bottle of Ladyburn single malt whisky will be auctioned on 10 October at The Distillers One of One, with proceeds going to the Youth Action Fund.
Donated by William Grant & Sons, the bottle is the oldest Ladyburn released to date — a 58-year-old single malt drawn from a refill bourbon cask. It features a previously unseen photograph of Marilyn Monroe taken by her friend, photographer Sam Shaw, during filming of The Seven Year Itch in 1954.
Sam Shaw, whose archive is managed by his family, captured the image during Monroe’s stay at the St. Regis Hotel in New York, just days before filming the iconic Lexington Avenue scene. Shaw once said he aimed “to show this fascinating woman, with her guard down, at work, at ease off stage, during those joyous moments in her life.”
The whisky comes from the now-demolished Ladyburn Distillery in Girvan, which operated between 1966 and 1975. Only a handful of casks remain from the site. The bottling forms part of a series pairing Ladyburn whiskies with work by influential creatives with previous releases featuring photography by David Bailey and Norman Parkinson.
The single bottle of Ladyburn Marilyn Monroe by Sam Shaw will be auctioned at One of One, a biennial event supported by the Scotch Whisky industry and held at Hopetoun House, near Edinburgh.