Glenfiddich Drops Rare 50-Year-Old Scotch That Costs $50,000
The coveted $50,000 bottle is one of three new luxe limited edition releases by the famed Scotch whisky maker.
The latest impressive Glenfiddich release begs the question: Can you distill the essence of time down into one bottle and even one dram of luxury Scotch? With the jaw-dropping new Glenfiddich Time Re:Imagined Collection, consider the answer a resounding (and highly covetable) “yes.”
Glenfiddich certainly has plenty of pedigree when it comes to both rare Scotch whisky and flagship releases, including the debut of a rare 44-year Scotch in recent years.
The latest trio (unveiled in a lavish private event this month in New York City) pushes the boundaries of the category beyond what even the most avid collectors might expect, including an exceptional and astonishing Glenfiddich 50-Year-Old.
Each expression receives a different moniker — and artistic, futuristic and frankly stunning packaging — in a nod to the passage of time.
The Glenfiddich 50-Year, with an eye-catching $50,000 price tag to match, goes by Simultaneous Time, in a nod to “the parallel and complex conditions that have influenced the liquid.”
50 years is a whopping amount of time in the grand scheme of the Scotch production process, suffice to say: The heat summer and the cold of winter greatly impacts the liquid itself as time goes on, Glenfiddich notes.
And yet, the resulting taste is unexpectedly sweet and deep, with a long-lasting, sweet finish and a beautiful antique gold color.
Suffice to say, this Scotch is as reverent and remarkable as any on the planet. Such a rare whisky deserves a container befitting its scarcity, so Glenfiddich worked with computational architect Manuel Jiménez García, who created an algorithm using five decades worth of meteorological data.
That data was then translated into a physical design language to craft the eventual bespoke final container — the idea was to capture “every second of every day, of every month” for the 50-year aging process.
The rest of the collection is no less impressive, as one might expect.
The 40-Year, or Cumulative Time expression, nods to the remnant vatting process (which carries forth remnants of the previous batch to casks selected for each release thereafter).
The result is distinctive and smooth, boasting notes of deep dried fruit and dry oak, with a complex and memorable finish — bold yet nuanced, befitting a 40-year-old Scotch.
For good measure, the container and stopper are true works of art, made from jesmonite — no two pieces of the material are alike, and the 40-year-old Glenfiddich expression is absolutely a cut above.
The offering is a true collector’s item, with a suggested price of $4,600 and exceptional rarity in every sip (not to mention the art museum-worthy container).
Rounding out the trio of next-level releases is the Glenfiddich 30-Year, with floral accents meeting woody, deep flavors in a nod to the suspended moment in time captured by Glenfiddich Malt Master Brian Kinsman.
Suspended Time is reflected in the sleek, visually appealing ribbon-wrapped container (and the suggested price of $1,299 also suggests you should keep this whisky in your bar cart for quite some time).
It goes without saying that the choice few who get the chance to try even a sip of even one whisky in this Scotch trio should consider it an accomplishment worthy of 120 years of Scotch history.
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