Barrel of whiskey sold for record £16 million

An Asian collector recently paid no less than 16 million British pounds (almost 19 million euros) for a barrel of Scotch whisky. That is a new record, reports the British newspaper Financial Times.

The Cask – “Cask No. 3” – Dating back to 1975, Ardbeg distillery is located on the Scottish island of Islay. It is part of Glenmorangie, which is part of the French luxury goods group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy).

Ardbeg will take approximately 88 bottles of whiskey per year from the Cask over the next five years and deliver to the buyer. That equates to 36,000 pounds per bottle.

Comeback

Whiskey is making a comeback, and barrel sales are booming. The previous record was set in April – about 1 million pounds for a barrel of Macallan from 1988 – but that has now been shattered.

According to the Financial Times, the astronomical amount may be explained by the fact that it also includes all kinds of costs in the coming years, such as storage, bottling, labeling, insurance and so on. Usually, a barrel is bottled in one go, precisely because it is easier and cheaper.