[imagesource: Gordon & MacPhail]

For a cool $120 000 (around R1,8 million) you can taste how rich in history this 80-year-old single-malt scotch is.

Or you can read about it for free.

The spirit was created by Gordon & MacPhail in February 1940 in a quiet corner in the north of Scotland.

Gordon & MacPhail have been crafting the finest single malts in the world for four generations of family ownership spanning 120 years.

They’ve owned barrels from over 100 distilleries, many of which are no longer in existence. This bottle is not only the world’s oldest single malt scotch ever released but also the only pre-WWII whisky ever sold in the collection.

George Urquhart, considered the “Grandfather of Single Malt”, was about to join the war efforts with the Seaforth Islanders, but not before his vision was fulfilled.

Just as war was rolling in, George and his father, John, had the extraordinary foresight to pour whisky from the Glenlivet Distillery into a bespoke Gordon & MacPhail barrel to be enjoyed by future generations.

Here’s more about the lovely liquid via Robb Report:

As the world prepared to descend into global conflict, all goods—including the raw materials to make whisky—were being rationed, meaning Scotland’s most famous export was already becoming scarce.

In fact, all whisky production stopped until 1945, which means the fact this barrel survived the roaring, post-war commercial demand is a further miracle.

Get a load of the bottle in all its glory:

Image: Gordon & MacPhail

Image: Gordon & MacPhail

The question on everyone’s mind is what this R1,8 million bottle of whisky could taste like after being in a cask for 80 years.

Luckily, Robb Report’s Nicolas Stecher is more than happy to oblige us:

It’s fair to call it a contemplative, nearly religious experience.

It develops over time; drink your dram with patience, not only to expand the event but also to allow the dark amber juice to evolve in the traditional Glencairn glass.

Breathe it in, deeply and often, and over the next hour, you’ll notice the whisky metamorphosing, beautifully transforming and growing in the glass.

Initial notes of marzipan and sweet Christmas cakes give way to orange peel and the faintest whiffs of leather and tobacco.

Stephen Rankin, Director of Prestige, said that the tasting experience is like reading a book that you can’t get enough of:

…”because the next smell, the next time you put your nose to the glass, you’re getting another world of flavors,”

Even those who aren’t big whisky drinkers will likely be intrigued.

[source:robbreport]