World Record Scotch Cask Makes Millions
Single Malt Breaks the Record Price
I have this fantasy about investing in Scotch. You know, in the cold of a winter evening I’ll sit in front of the log burner with a fine glass and a dram of single malt warning in the palm of my hand and dream of owning rare Scotch. But for one lucky punter in Asia it has stopped being a pipe dream and they put a very large sum of money where his or her mouth is. I say it might be a woman, but I know women are the more sensible half of humanity, so let’s say it’s a man! This time it isn’t a single bottle, but a cask that will probably rack out over 400 bottles and it went for an eye watering £16 million. It’s a single malt that goes back to 1975 made by the 207-year-old Ardbeg distillery and it is known as Cask No 3. Its price is sixteen times higher than the previous record sum paid for a whisky and historically that price is more than that which was paid for the entire distillery and all of its stock as recently as 1997. I think that was the time when a French luxury goods company bought the distillery to add to its portfolio of brands. The cask is very rare because in the 1970s most whisky was put into blends, which we would now regard as a lot less than perfect, but times change as do tastes.
For the next five years the Asian buyer will receive about 88 bottles of the lovely nectar from the cask, each one costing something like about £36,000 a pop. The historic Ardbeg distillery is on the isle of Islay and after a period of decline their products have become some of the most recognised whiskies in the world, loved by all and sundry, and add me in on that too! According to all the experts this isn’t a foolish purchase by a know nothing crackpot as this special whisky is off the charts in terms of quality and taste.
And of course if you know my style that’s a cue for a remark about James Pirie’s extremely good goods also being off the charts in terms of quality and taste. Now there’s no way that I could afford a cask of whisky to draw down a few bottles a year from, but I can recommend some very pleasing bargains from the Summer Sale.
You could try the beautiful Royal Scot Crystal Kintyre Old Fashioned tumbler which is a large straight sided tumbler and a joy to hold. It’s perfect for a neat dram, or for the morning and a refreshing glass of orange juice.
Or in these straightened times you could go for an ultra bargain, the Offer of the Week, in these Glencoe - 6 Whisky Tumblers 87 mm Royal Scot Crystal. These are about one quarter of their normal price and have a beautiful deep cut classical diamond and fan hand cut design. They aren’t in fancy boxes though and there are a few imperfections, but the Scotch you put inside will forgive you.
