One of the Most Expensive Bottles of Scotch Money Can Buy…And How it Tastes

We’ve done it, lads, we’ve found it: The oldest and depending on the Sotheby’s auction Oct. 7th, possibly the most expensive dram of scotch that most of us will never drink. Laid down by George Urquhart and his father, John at the Glenlivet Distillery of Scotland in a custom-made Gordon & MacPhail cask on the third of February 1940. That’s right, the Gordon & MacPhail “Generations” is an 80-year-old Scotch. And it’s hitting the block at a bargain opening bid of $100,000, but rest assured there’s almost no way it’ll get away that cheaply.

For context, February 3rd, 1940 was a Saturday, the Nazis were attacking Great Britain by air and a German plane of the Luftwaffe crashed on English soil for the first time in the war. It was a Heinkel He 111 shot down near Whitby. Flight Lieutenant Peter Townsend of 43 Squadron was credited with the air victory. Maybe his squadron toasted with some Gordon & MacPhail? We’ll never know.

That’s right! This bottle of scotch was laid down while the blitzkrieg raged and the soldiers of the King’s Army were struggling in France. The miracle at Dunkirk was still four months off, Neville Chamberlain was still Prime Minister, and Sir Winston Churchill was still First Lord of the Admiralty. Churchill wouldn’t come to power until May when he told Britons he had “nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat”. And some of that spirit surely went into this bottle of historic proportions.

But enough history, let’s get to the whisky. Shall we?

It Could Be The Most Expensive, And Historic Scotch Yet

Let’s check the stat’s folks:

Distillery: Glenlivet
Region: Speyside
Country: Scotland (UK)
Distilled: 3 February 1940
Bottled: 5 February 2020
Auction Date: 7 October 2021
ABV 44.9%
Years Old: 80
Cask No. 340
Cask Type: First fill Sherry butt
Colour: Darkest Mahogany

The packaging of this grandfatherly scotch would of course have to be equally impressive and as you might expect, a brand like Gordon & McPhail pulled out all the stops. They certainly weren’t to be outdone by say The Macallan for example who placed their 71-year-old “The Macallan Volume I, The Laird of Easter Elchies” into its own leather-bound tome. No their own entrant into the “ultra-rare” vintages to be released in 2021 would involve hiring Glencairn Crystal Studio to create the crystalline “ultra-premium” decanter and the craftspeople at Wardour Workshops to construct an equally unique “oak pavillion” created by internationally acclaimed architect and designer, Sir David Adjaye OBE.

But How Does It Taste?

Now as you can imagine there were a few challenges here: 1.) Whiskey and Babes as the fresh, young upstarts as we are, haven’t quite been invited to the big parties where they passed out thimble-sized tasters of this amazing vintage. 2.) There is absolutely no way in hell our publisher is going to try to bid for this bottle. (Yeah, he’s got money… but just know…yes, we did ask him…) So as a result we’re going to have to trust some of the experts here.

According to MarketWatch’s Charles Passy who wrote about his experience with the extremely rare scotch,

“It’s a rich, heady sip — not as “woody” as you might expect for something that’s been, well, sitting in wood for 80 years. But it’s got a properly hefty texture — or “oily,” as the Gordon & MacPhail team describe it. And it’s got notes of sweetness and spice — look for hints of salted plums, dates, and figs, according to Gordon & MacPhail — with just a bit of mystery (and a menthol-like finish) in the mix.”

Whisky writer Charlie MacLean MBE provided his thoughts for Gordon & MacPhail:

“Appearance: Deep umber with magenta lights; old polished rosewood.
Aroma: A complex, mellow nose-feel, still vivacious after all these years. Top notes of almond oil, scented hand-soap, backed by sandalwood and gorse flowers on a warm day. A whiff of peat-smoke in the empty glass.
Palate: An oily texture, and lightly sweet to start (dates, salted plums, figs), drying elegantly (traces of dry Oloroso Sherry), towards a lengthy menthol finish. Drop of water increases spiciness.
Summary: Vibrant and wholly satisfying. One of the finest malts I have ever encountered.”

All in all, it sounds like a beautiful dram of scotch. And one that regrettably many of us will never experience. Yet, we can dream.