Retailer Master of Malt has collaborated with design studio Studio Minerva to launch a super-premium whisky brand: The Islay.

Described as a love letter to the Scottish island, the brand is built around a continuous single-cask model.

A first for Studio Minerva, which normally focuses on design, the introduction of The Islay marks the first time the company has built its own brand.

Master of Malt commented that The Islay hopes to tell a single, united story of the island, celebrating the characteristics its whiskies are known for, with notes of tropical fruit, minerality and peat.

The inaugural collection from the brand includes 16-Year-Old Basalt, 20-Year-Old Red Sandstone and 30-Year-Old Quartzite, ranging from £99 to £499.

On the debut brand, Coral Harker, MD at Studio Minerva, said: “We’ve spent a decade building brands for other people, and starting one of our own has always been the dream.

“The timing was never quite right. Then we met Master of Malt and the fit was there straight away, and The Islay certainly won’t be the last brand we build together.”

Sam Simmons, head of whisky at Master of Malt, added: “Every cask I’ve chosen is an embodiment of the island.

“They’re selected to be as honest as possible: raw earth, single cask no finishing, nothing that gets in the way. The character comes from the place itself.”