50 Year Old Glenfiddich Whiskey for $16,000

Andrew Cleary of Bloomberg recently reported that William A. Grant and Sons, maker of Glennfiddich Scottish whiskey will soon be selling a special aged edition of whiskey. The whiskey is considered investment grade, has already been aged for 50 years in wooden barrels and will be sold in 50 numbered bottles per year for the next 10 years. The whiskey will come in a hand-blown glass bottles decorated in Scottish silver along with a leather case. All for $16,000.00.

How does this impact the appraiser, according to the article most who buy the whiskey will be buying for investment gains and not drinking pleasure.

Cleary states Collecting limited-release liquor has proven as profitable as art for some investors. A 60-year-old Macallan, which set the world record in 1991 when it sold for 6,250 pounds, is now worth 23,000 pounds, according to the Forbes list of the priciest drams. The Glenfiddich 50-Year would be its nearest rival available to buy openly.

“I’d expect interest from Asia to North America for a 50- year,” said Campbell Evans, director of government and consumer affairs at the Edinburgh-based Scotch Whisky Association, the industry’s lobby group. “A few might drink it, but I suspect most would keep it for the investment.”

Aging a whisky for 50 years is not without complications, Evans said. The liquor evaporates at the rate of 2 percent a year, and must sit in its barrel, unmixed with any other malt, for the duration to qualify as a 50-year.

Cleary continues A 64-year-old Glenfiddich released in 2001 was sold for 10,000 pounds a bottle at the time and was the oldest single malt ever to be produced, according to the company. The 61 bottles produced are rarely seen or valued, it said.

Whyte & Mackay, a Scottish distiller owned by India’s United Spirits Ltd., released a 50-year-old Dalmore whisky bottled in crystal decanters in 1978. It can be bought for 7,500 pounds at online retailer The Whisky Exchange.

William Grant and larger rival Diageo Plc, the maker of Johnnie Walker whisky, have increased sales by selling more premium-priced products.

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