The whisky world goes through phases – there’s a rush to blends, then back to malts, on to rye, then jetting to Japan and back to Irish whiskey… Right now, collection is the thing – searching for rarities and obsessing about completism like a liquid Panini sticker collection. Those two desires come together in The Last Drop Distillers. And, until the end of May, there’s a rare opportunity to explore the range at a pop-up showroom in Piccadilly Arcade, opposite the Royal Academy.

Founded by two chieftains of the spirits industry – Tom Jago and James Espey who, between them, launched brands including Baileys Irish Cream, Malibu, Johnnie Walker Blue Label and Chivas Regal 18 – The Last Drop is now run by their respective daughters, Rebecca and Beanie. Distillers is a bit of a misnomer – what they are is explorers and hunters, seeking out rare barrels of spirits and bottling the very last of the most special liquids.

In 10 years, they have been extremely selective – their latest release is only the 11th bottling, and many include only 100 or so bottles (Release VI, a 1961 Dumbarton single-grain whisky, had only 32). The least uncommon (most common would be wrong) is 2017’s Release X, a hardly whopping 1,352 bottles of a 1971 blended Scotch with rich vanilla creaminess cut with tangy citrus and a hint of smoke – like someone lighting a cigar at the next table just as you finish your last mouthful of lemon posset.

The latest release is a double treat – The Last Drop Distillers Centenario Port Duo. Having bottled rare cognacs in the past, they are no strangers to the grape, but this is their first fortified wine – two incredibly old colheita tawny ports (i.e. wines from a single year, aged in the barrel), one developing in oak since 1970, the other, incredibly, since 1870. The year the grapes for the latter – a deep mahogany, viscous liquid with a rich fig and walnut heart carrying spice, wood and tobacco notes – were harvested, the first ever football international took place, Jules Verne published 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Deutsche Bank was founded.

As you might imagine, at The Last Drop Distillers pop-up showroom they’re not exactly handing out samples of these gems like the duty free shop at Gatwick. For a start, visits are by appointment only. However, you will not go dry if you do secure an invitation. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the Jagos and Espeys have produced an ‘everyday whisky’, Tom’s Blend No.1. This being The Last Drop however, the standard of quotidien is rather elevated – it’s a rich, sherried, Highland malt-dominated 18-year-old blend created by Tom Jago, the whisky writer Charles Maclean and the malt master at Ian Macleod Distillers.

At the beautifully designed space in St James’s, drams of Tom’s Blend are served by a remarkably sinuous glass robot, engineered by Harvey & John, but it is also worth asking the human bartender to mix a Rob Roy or ginger ale highball. Currently, Tom’s Blend is not available to buy, but the clamour for it (not least from James Espey himself) may become too loud to resist.

To visit The Last Drop Distillers atelier in the Piccadilly Arcade, email alex@lastdropdistillers.com; lastdropdistillers.com