Just about every time I conduct either one of my whisky master classes or a whisky tasting event I am asked, “What is the most expensive whisky ever sold?” In fact I was asked this very question several weeks ago whilst in London.

I’m both delighted and privilege to say that I never tire of this question because the answer is one of my own: the very (very) limited Dalmore 62yo. I’m also pleased to say that the customer in question (no names) brought this fine product to enjoy and not to collect.

Way back on the 15th April 2005 at the Pennyhill Park Hotel, in the small town of Bagshot in Surrey a young gentlemen purchased the hotel’s one and only bottle of the said Dalmore 62yo. The occasion took place over Pennyhill Park’s main bar and I’m told somewhere in the region of £32 - £38,000 changed hands (amount was never confirmed).

Sat with his friends our customer then proceeded to open his purchase and enjoy it. Within 10 minutes 62 years of history were enjoyed in the manner that I would always recommend. A prefect setting with friends requires a perfect serve and that’s exactly what happened.

The element of the story that I also like to highlight is what happened next. Our friend after circulating the bottle amongst his group handed it back with one dram left for the barman to sample. Many professional bar staff would have settled for a small tip so imagine how the barman in question must have felt when presented with the generous gesture of a £1,000 dram to taste. I wish I’d been there.

The Dalmore 62yo is without doubt liquid history. Within the expression the youngest whiskies I used were 62 years old (obviously). The oldest Dalmore liquid was initially distilled on the 10th June 1868, that’s 3 days after the birth of a certain Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Unsurprisingly I am told if you are lucky enough to come across a bottle of Dalmore 62yo on the black market you can now expect to have to swap £60,000 if you want to take it home.

At the recent Germany Whisky Festival it was another memorable event only this year there was an air of despondency hanging in the air – the pangs of recessions was clearly making its mark. Even I was starting to get depressed but for only a matter of seconds. My audience needed to be cheered up but I had all the tools with me…
I quickly served them for my tasting The Dalmore 12 years old, The Dalmore 15 years old and the final viagra of the century the Dalmore 1974 limited edition. One sip from this liquid gold accompanied by a handcrafted delicious bitter chocolate, they were in heaven!

Recession…it’s just a word. Scotch Whisky is a lifetime of warm memories shared with good friends. On this occasion it was many German friends.

Those that know me know that I’m a very proud man. Proud in particular of what I like to call “finesse” – a simple process where I fully mature my malts and then seek to enhance and enrich the whisky by “finessing” in an additional cask type.

The Dalmore 74 is a classic example - the spirit was filled to its original cask on 15th March 1974, barrels of American white oak that had previously been filled with aromatic bourbons from Kentucky.

After 30 years of slumbering maturation, which included a short stay maturing in Apostoles & Amoroso Oloroso sherry wood, I transferred the malt to a single, immense Matusalem butt from Gonzalez Byass.  Matusalem is a multi award winning sherry crafted from Palomino and Pedro Ximenez grapes and matured for some 30 years in their soleras in Jerez de la Frontera and has long been a favourite of mine.

Having absorbed subtle sherry characteristics and aromatic spices from the oak this sumptuous single malt was bottled in summer of 2008 at 42% abv. This higher strength offers a truly rich, intense sensation.

I am very proud to present the Dalmore 74 in a hand crafted deep brown leather gift case with both our bottle and gift box carrying our distinctive and iconic 12 point stag head - our “royal”.