Scotch lovers asked to cough up £10,000 per bottle A Scottish distillery has launched a 50-year-old single malt at an eye-watering, throat-burning £10,000 a bottle, or £357 a tot. Glenfiddich laid down a couple of casks of its single malt 50 years ago, and now plans to bottle the stuff and flog it at the rate of 50 bottles a year over the next decade. The first bottles were …
"each bottle will be hand-blown and presented in hand-stitched, leather-bound cases. Alongside the bottle, a leather-bound book will detail the whisky's history and enable owners to record personal tasting notes for each occasion they enjoy a dram."
Whisky oxidises in the presence of air, and there's enough air in a typically half-empty bottle to make a noticeable change to the taste; savoury Islay malts turn sweet. I don't generally drink that much Highland malt such as Glenfiddich so while I reckon it would change from sweet to sweeter, I can't say so from experience.
Generally then, once you've opened a bottle, if you want it to taste right, you need to polish it off. The dregs in a near empty bottle you've had for years will taste completely different to what the distillery's chief taster intended....
... so unless you have some fancy system to flush the airspace inside the bottle with nitrogen before shoving the cork back in, drinking one's £10k bottle nip by nip over several years is probably a flawed idea.
"... so unless you have some fancy system to flush the airspace inside the bottle with nitrogen before shoving the cork back in, drinking one's £10k bottle nip by nip over several years is probably a flawed idea."
Or buy one of those plungers that you use to evacuate the air completely. They cost about a fiver.
Well, by the time you're dropping ten thousand GBP on a single bottle of scotch, you can most likely afford a nitrogen flush system. They're pretty common among wine enthusiasts, actually, so aside from possibly having an adapter made, it's not like one will be hard to come by.
Certainly not. Courvoisier is what we put Coca-Cola into. (Also rum, but that's another story.)
In defense of my countrymen I'll add that a generation still living grew up in counties with local option, where, in the words of much older co-worker, "I bet some of that stuff we drank was aged as much as two, three hours." The upside to this of course is that local prohibition encouraged illegal distribution, which begat NASCAR. Without NASCAR we'd have to extend football season even farther, or else watch bass-fishing tournaments on TV.
I hope this is all clear.
Buy a cheap bottle of Teachers and lob some orange marmalade and vanilla toffee in it*. Same flavour, natch, as the article reported.
Solved! Then flog it for £50 a shot.
I daren't ever visit Scotland again after that sacriligeous comment...
As the evaporate from making whisky is known as "The Angel's share", they must now be feeling like rich buggers up there. (Aside - are angels allowed to fly around when pissed?)
*(Incidentally, here in Finland some bars take a litre bottle of Vodka, and dissolve a couple of packets of 'Fisherman's Friend' candies in it. Takes awhile of gently shaking the bottle, but actually bloody delicious and quite popular. But our winters can be a bit nippy....)
A bar at my university got in a bottle of 40-year-old Scotch. Me and a couple of mates went down to have a wee dram, and it was one of the loveliest drinks I have ever tasted.
However we were quite fortunate. Although he was only selling it at cost, it was still very expensive (I have no idea what the price, not £50 a shot of course but expensive), but the stupid barmaid didnt realise it was any different to the normal stuff. Hence we got it for normal price, about £1.50.
... that I have been known to add is a bit of ice to my whiskey (though not my whisky). This was the result of living for three years in a near-desert environment. It was a horrid place, its only redeeming quality that it left me with a permanent thirst, bless it.
Mine's the one with the photo of Jack Train in the pocket.
Being a yank, please pardon my British slang, but do you call the author a tosser, a git, a wanker or all of the above for this poor attempt at humor.
Even in America, we know that you drink your single malts neat, with a water back, or maybe a little water for those who can't stomach cask strength.
Also the author didn't do his math right. He'll need to at least double his single pour price to account for the mark up that bars place on their drinks. Where else are you going to get a single pour?
Now if they had said 50yr Laphroig, and the price was $1000.00 (USD), I might, consider it.
Anyone who's had the 30yr Laphroig will understand.
FAIL for the Author's attempt at humor, FAIL for the well over priced piss poor marketing attempt.
I was at a dinner party recently where one of the guests -- despite being already blotto on wine -- was given a nip of the host's several hundred quid a bottle whiskey (he'd received as a gift) after dinner.
Evidently the guest liked it so much that he drank the half-bottle that was left over the course of the rest of the evening and emptied it, the host only discovered in the morning when he found the empty along with all the other bottles.
Don't give your good stuff to people who are already pissed up.
>> Now if they had said 50yr Laphroig, and the price was $1000.00 (USD), I might, consider it.
Indeed. If I had £10K to spend on a single scotch purchase, Glenfiddich isn't the distillery that would spring to mind.
BTW I think you'd have difficulty getting a 50yo Laphroaig (particularly for $1000). The oldest Scotch they have bottled was 40yo and the current market would set you back about $3000.
Quote "Even in America, we know that you drink your single malts neat, with a water back, or maybe a little water for those who can't stomach cask strength." unquote
That's where you are going wrong. Every whisky benefits from a drop of water. The key is not to put anything in that would change the tase, or lower the temperature below ambient.
If you are disagreeing with this, then you are disagreeing with the Master Distiller @ Laphroaigh
I had a small bottle of 25 year old whiskey (the 50 ml ones) i got from the whiskey museum on castle street in edinburgh i forget the distillery it was from but it cost me about 12 pound so i hope it was a good one. i never got to taste it though. my granddad feel ill shortly after i brought it and we used it to wet his lips just before he died . but like a good scotsman he kept licking his lips so we would giving him more.
i never got to taste it and it cost me a fortune but at least it was put to a good use.
"Reports that Coca-Cola are developing a £5000 premium can to provide a suitable mixer for the American market are unconfirmed"
I did chortle to myself over that one. However I am fully behind people requesting coke with it. Just means that I can lob in Bells or Grants instead and know they'll never notice the difference. Use Dr Pepper instead of Coke if they ask for Laphroaig.
I've found there is generally an inflection point for quality increase of fine spirits that occurs somewhere in the $50-100 (USD) range. That is, a $200 bottle might taste better than a $50 one, but four times as good? Not a chance. There is a much bigger difference between a $20 bottle and a $5 one though.
Not that I don't enjoy single malts, but scotch tends to be overpriced, in comparison to some other high quality spirits (small batch bourbons, single malt Irish, and now there are some single malt ryes coming out that are just fantastic.)
You've got tasting notes for paint stripper?
Try a wee dram of Lagavulin or Laphroaig. I'm not saying you'll like them, many don't, but anyone who hasn't destroyed all his taste buds drinking paint-stripper will have to agree that these are complex, multi-layered flavours. And as unlike a mass-market blended whisky, as a pint of good real ale is unlike a pint of Carling.
"Good to hear you will be able to get it at the airport. Much more affordable if you can avoid the duties, which contribute as much as £15 per bottle!"
Not to mention the looks on the face those folks going onto connecting flights while forgetting that you can't take the bottle through security for the 2nd leg...
And as unlike a mass-market blended whisky, as a pint of good real ale is unlike a pint of Carling.By Nigel 11.Wash your mouth out.Mentioning Carling witch piss and ale in the same sentance.Oh and the poster that said all whisky tasted like paint stripper,all 600 odd, Highland Park for one does not,tastes more of liquorice. Slancha.
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