Guess How Much a WWII-Era Bottle of Glenlivet Costs

(Community) college degree, or a single decanter of Scotch?

October 3, 2017 9:00 am

In January of 1943 during the height of World War II, the Allied forces policy of demanding “unconditional surrender” from their Axis adversaries was finalized by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill when the pair met in Morocco.

While not quite as important as the so-called The Casablanca Conference, another big meeting which involved a batch of single malt Scotch introducing itself to a first-fill Sherry hogshead cask was taking place 2,350 miles away at The Glenlivet distillery in Scotland at about the same time.

Filled on January 14th, the spirits in Cask 121 sat undisturbed before being relocated to Gordon & MacPhail’s warehouses 24 years later. Now, after a 2013 bottling, the spirits have been set loose.

Presented in a hand-blown glass decanter stowed within a hand-crafted wooden box, the Private Collection Glenlivet 1943 by Gordon & MacPhail is one of the world’s rarest whiskies. And, due to a price of approximately $40,000 per decanter, it’s also one of the most expensive.

With a nose that has notes of coffee, milk chocolate, wood spices and burnt orange, the taste of the Private Collection Glenlivet is said to conjure images of “luxurious comfy leather armchairs.”

Livet (2 images)

Limited to a ridiculously, tragically small run of 42 decanters, Gordon & MacPhail is also offering Private Collection purchasers the option to join them at their distillery for a unique tour and tasting.

“We believe Private Collection Glenlivet 1943 by Gordon & MacPhail is a malt without comparison from a defining date in the history of a world in conflict,” said company director Stephen Rankin. “Today, whisky is a unifying drink and this rare example gives people from across the world the chance to own and savour a defining piece of Scotland’s liquid history.”

Once you’ve emptied out the ol’ college fund, here’s where to get it.

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