The £1 million whisky collection up for sale
Twelve bottles of whisky, one collection, one place to buy it and one singularly whopping price tag.
That's right, a whisky collection from Scottish distillers, The Dalmore, has today gone on the market at Harrods in central London for a cool £1 million.
Four years of painstaking work by master distiller, Richard Paterson of The Dalmore - also master blender at its owner Whyte & Mackay - have today resulted in the unveiling of quite possibly the world's rarest and most expensive whisky collection ever seen. MSN Food was there to see what all the fuss was about. More importantly, we tried each and every one of the 12 whiskies. Here's what happened.
What is the collection?
Richard Paterson, the man behind the Paterson Collection, is a third generation master distiller at The Dalmore and it's been 30 years of his life's work creating whiskies. His great grandfather was the founder of the Bank of England and, as he told MSN, while "he preferred the smell of money, my grandfather, father and I prefer the smell of whisky".
The collection is 12 bottles of blended single malt whiskies drawn from The Dalmore archives - the oldest dates back to 1926, while the 'youngest' is a 1995. Each bottle has been painstakingly blended from the distiller's archives, drawn from thousands of potential casks.
Does it come with a carrier bag?
Yes, of sorts. Each of the 12 expressions is presented in a handcrafted full lead crystal decanter, produced by Glencairn, one of the world’s leading crystal houses. Luxury jeweller Hamilton & Inches has crafted and hand engraved the sterling silver that adorns each bottle. Each bottle is engraved with the name of the person that Paterson has dedicated the bottle to - leading lights in the whisky world and, touchingly, one to his grandfather and father.
The collection itself is housed in a bespoke wooden cabinet, created by one of Britain’s leading cabinet makers, Gavin Robertson, and took more than 700 hours of design and craft to construct. Naturally it's made of Scottish oak, houses glassware for the whiskies and has four wooden 'takeaway' boxes to carry some of the whiskies in.
Not only that, but Paterson has handwritten in calligraphy, a ledger book detailing the history of the distillery, the tasting notes for each bottle and a recommended cigar match, no less. It took him one year to write the book alone.
Isn't that a lot of money for a dozen bottles of whisky, though?
Well yes, and no. It's actually on sale for £987,500 because as Harrods' head wine and spirit buyer Nick Fleming told MSN on the day of the sale, they didn't want to give out 'the wrong message.' It's not about the price, it's about the time it's taken to create the collection, craft the cabinet and, as the chief executive of Whyte & Mackay John Beard told us, 'scarcity' is a priceless commodity. Featuring whiskies from every decade since the 1920s, these are old, complex and extraordinarily rare whiskies.
On MSN Food: the world's rarest whisky collection tasted and rated
What do they have to say about the collection?
Richard Paterson says, "Working alongside Harrods, we have created a collection of whiskies of the very highest quality that can truly lay claim to be the only one of its kind in the world. I personally have invested a huge amount of time ensuring that each of these 12 expressions represent the very best of the incredibly rare and valuable stocks that we nurture up at the distillery in Alness. I’m delighted that we have been able to give this collection the showcase that it deserves, with centre stage in the spirit room of the world’s number one luxury retailer.”
Is anyone going to buy it?
It will take extremely deep pockets and more money than we could match with a whip-round at MSN HQ, but Harrods says it expects the whisky to sell within 24 hours. After all, it only needs one buyer.
Director of foods at Harrods, Bruce Langlands told us, "If we had any doubts at all about selling such an incredible range of whiskies we wouldn’t have spent so much creating them in the first place with The Dalmore. It is the flagship product for our new spirits room, and has pride of place in its bespoke handcrafted cabinet. I’m more concerned that we sell it too quickly and we lose an outstanding talking point and attraction in the spirits room!”
What's the whisky taste like?
We know what you're thinking - no whisky is worth £1 million, is it? In the interests of research, we sat down with Richard Paterson to taste each of the 12 whiskies and we can confirm: they're outstanding. Hugely varied, they're characteristically slightly sweeter than island malt whiskies, lots of tropical fruit characteristics with a silky, unctuous body and mouthfeel. These are whiskies that show their age, with the flavours lingering for upwards of 30 minutes. Quite incredible.
Are they too good to use in a cocktail? Yes. Do they need ice? No - Paterson may well take you task if you did. Can you add water? Yes, if you like, but they're all crafted to be drunk at exactly the alcohol level they're bottled at.
Are they to be drunk and enjoyed? Absolutely. Paterson was at pains to point out that these are whiskies to be shared and enjoyed - they're not a prize to be kept in a vault and re-sold to the highest bidder later on.
Would we spend £1 million to buy the collection? Ask us again once we've won the lottery and we'll give you a fair answer.