Bentley says goodbye to the W12 engine with its own £40,000 Scotch

If you were thinking of buying a new W12-powered Bentley[1], I'm afraid I have some bad news. You can't have one. That's because the W12 is no more.

Actually, that's not quite true; Bentley is currently winding down production with a view to fulfilling the final orders for W12-engined cars[2], which it reckons will be complete by the middle of the year. But the order books are closed - you can no longer buy one. Make no mistake: the W12's time is almost past.

It would be disingenuous to try to compare the W12's import for Bentley to that of the old L-Series V8[3] - the engine upon which almost all of the brand's cars were based from 1959 until 2001 and which stayed in production, somewhat unbelievably, until 2020.

A Bentley Continental GTC W12

But equally, it would be churlish to understate the significance of the arrival of the W12 in the Bentley Continental GT of 2003. This, you see, was a turning point for the company; the first Bentley for decades that wasn't simply a rebadged or rebodied Rolls-Royce, developed with new money from its acquisition by the Volkswagen Group and carrying with it the engine that would form the backbone of Bentley's rebirth. The W12 was developed by Volkswagen and the principle is simple: take two VR6 engines, with their staggered cylinder arrangement halfway between those of an in-line and a V engine.

Cant each of them to an angle of 36 degrees from vertical and mate them at the crankshaft.

Smooth operator

Bentley[4] would rather you didn't point out that the W12's design origins lay in the Mk3 Volkswagen Golf, which featured the aforementioned VR6 unit, but the fact remains. Nevertheless, a good idea is a good idea, no matter from whence it came; the result is an engine that is almost as smooth as a V12 and delivers just as much power, but which takes up less under-bonnet space, allowing more room for passengers. In the latest Continental GT, it puts out 650bhp, enough to reduce the 0-62mph time to only 3.6 seconds.

Engineered beauty: The W12

Under the bonnet of the 2003 model, meanwhile, it signified the start of a new Bentley - one that didn't appeal solely to the landed gentry.

Traditionalists may scoff, but there's no doubt that the money that has since rolled into Crewe - from footballers, musicians, YouTube celebrities, film stars and those who wanted to ape them - has helped Bentley to heights of which it could only have dreamed back in the 1990s. So there is good reason to mark its passing. And what better way than a toast, with a very special whisky?

Bentley's own, in fact. For that, we needed to drive to Scotland. Well, actually, we didn't - but it seemed like a good excuse for one last blast in a W12.

A Continental GT Convertible[5], to be precise.

Fog lights

It's a dank March morning when we leave Crewe and point the nose of the Conti north, the second in a convoy of four W12-powered Bentleys. But the fog soon lifts, with that, the top comes off. Cruising on the motorway in one of these cars with the roof down is entirely feasible even in the brisk air of early spring; with the windows and wind deflector raised, buffeting is minimal, while the heated seat and neck warmer keep the chill at bay.

A journey such as this - 400 miles of motorway, just over seven hours of driving - plays to the Continental's strengths. Its name is no misnomer; this is a proper grand tourer, in the finest tradition of such a thing, and at motorway speeds, the miles pass unnoticed. The angular tower of Forton Services slides by seemingly a few minutes after we joined the M6; only a little while afterwards, we're stopping at Tebay for a driver change and a comfort break, then continuing.

Heading north: the miles flew by for Robbins as he drove the Conti

Our northbound surge is punctuated by a stop at Glenskirlie Castle, halfway between Cumbernauld and Bonnybridge.

Having been built in 2007, it holds the distinction of being the first new castle to have been erected in Scotland in the 21st century. In a banqueting hall with a vaulted ceiling, surrounded by suits of armour and stained glass windows - which feel a touch incongruous when you know the building's age - we tuck into crispy, perfectly runny scotch eggs and fresh salmon. This place feels like an appropriate metaphor for the Bentleys parked outside: redolent of a distant past, true, but the sheen of modernity is inescapable - for better or for worse.

Though in the Bentleys' case, it's almost always for the better. So it's no hardship to settle once again into the Continental's vermillion driver's seat. From here, the roads go from three, to two, then down to one lane in either direction - and it's here that one of the W12's big benefits shows itself.

You pays your money...

It's time I owned up to something.

For all this emotive talk of an end of an era, I've actually always preferred a V8 in a modern Bentley[6]. Yes, the W12 has become a bit of an icon - but the smaller engine isn't exactly short of power and with its peakier power delivery and ululating soundtrack, its slightly more caddish character still makes it the engine of choice in a Continental. For me, anyway.

Robbins drives among a convoy of Bentleys headed for the Macallan Estate

Nevertheless, I have to concede that what the W12 has over the V8 is a thumping great sled of low-rev torque.

Where it takes the V8 a downchange and a few revs to really come on song, the W12 is endowed with a bucket of grunt that pours itself out all over the road the instant you go near the accelerator pedal. Yes, the Conti will drop a few ratios to get you into the power band, but the difference is that when you need to get past a dawdling Toyota, the W12 is off and running even before that downshift comes, rushing forward and carrying you safely past long before there's any danger of running out of road. As a result, overtakes become perfunctory; if the road is straight and clear enough, a quick blip with the right foot is all that's needed, and you're past.

Whisked away

The sun is out as we pull into the Dowans Hotel in Aberlour.

Twenty minutes later, we're being collected by a glistening red Bentayga for the short hop down the road to our final destination: The Macallan Estate. It is here that we'll be saluting the W12 this evening - and what finer way to do so than with a whisky that bears Bentley's name? Horizon, a limited-edition release from The Macallan, is a celebration, if you believe the marketing spiel, of the combined heritage of the two brands and their shared commitment to sophisticated craftsmanship.

Robbins: 'We're collected by a glistening red Bentayga for the short hop down the road to our final destination'

It is presented in a bottle quite unlike anything you've seen before; a glass vessel nestling in a cradle made of copper, aluminium, leather and wood, which sits horizontally, rather than vertically - "inspired by the horizontal trajectory of the automotive world", apparently.

It's easy to make fun of the effusive copy, but we are in pretty high-end territory here; granted, Horizon won't sell for anywhere near the GBP2 million or so that the most expensive bottle of whisky ever sold - also a Macallan - went for in November last year. But this is still a dram out of the reach of most of us, at GBP40,000 a bottle.

Roaring forties

Within The Macallan's extraordinary new distilling house, its roof clad in wavy hillocks of grass, the better to blend it into the hillside on which it sits, we're guided into a darkened, circular room with walls made entirely of glass, through which suspended racks of gently illuminated casks are visible. And here, on a dais in the centre, is the odd, twisted form of the Horizon bottle.

It's important to state for the record that I am not an expert in whisky. I enjoy a wee dram now and again, of course, but on a motoring journalist's salary, I can only really stretch to the sort of single malt you'd find on supermarket shelves - it's rare that I get to try anything more exclusive.

'And here, on a dais in the centre, is the odd, twisted form of the Horizon bottle,' writes Robbins

So you'll have to forgive my taste buds for their inexperience in whiskies of this sort of character. Fortunately, Kirsteen Campbell, The Macallan's master whisky maker, is on hand to tell us what we should be tasting - dried fruit and spice, apparently, as well as oak and leather aromas intended to evoke the interior of a Bentley.

I tip the GBP40,000 whisky into my mouth and hold it there. Immediately I'm surprised by the sweetness; or more precisely, the lack of bitterness. That's the sherry cask talking, or so I'm later told - The Macallan's speciality; indeed, all of its whiskies are casked this way.

Fruit of the vroom

After a beat, yes, there's the dried fruit - like a deliciously boozy Christmas cake[7] with candied orange peel.

I can detect the spice, too, but the oak and leather are harder to come by; doubtless, the relative crudity of my palate is to blame. What I do notice is the depth of the flavour; a lavish kick of soft warmth that radiates outward from the chest and feels as though it trickles slowly but inexorably into every corner of your torso. It's something I've never experienced before; is this what it is to drink really expensive whisky?

If so, I can see why people do. It would be easy to write off Horizon as nothing more than a marketing exercise, but somehow it does feel like more than that. Both Bentley and The Macallan point out that, if they had been after a quick PR win, they could easily have slapped the Bentley name on a bottle of The Macallan 18-year-old.

Instead, The Macallan's - and Bentley's - people all speak of Horizon like proud parents and suggest that the experience of creating it was so fruitful that it won't be the last time the two companies collaborate. As one door closes, then, another opens. However, this won't be the last time we see a top-flight Bentley that sits above the purely petrol V8 in the range.

Rumour has it there's a hybridised V8 on the way, offering even more power than the W12 - along with the promise of silent running some of the time. How very Bentley. Of course, enthusiasts will lament the loss of a Bentley stalwart.

But its passing is a reminder that change is inevitable.

Once upon a time, the W12 represented that change; a sign of a bold new era in which Bentley needed to change massively in order to survive.

Twenty years later, downing the final drops of (probably) the most exclusive thing that ever will pass my lips, it's hard not to conclude that that mission has been accomplished.

References

1. ^ Bentley (www.telegraph.co.uk)
2. ^ fulfilling the final orders for W12-engined cars (www.telegraph.co.uk)
3. ^ L-Series V8 (www.telegraph.co.uk)
4. ^ Bentley (www.telegraph.co.uk)
5. ^ Continental GT Convertible (www.telegraph.co.uk)
6. ^ preferred a V8 in a modern Bentley (www.telegraph.co.uk)
7. ^ a deliciously boozy Christmas cake (www.telegraph.co.uk)