How much would you pay for a bottle of rum that’s almost as old as the United States? This is not a rhetorical question — recently, the Miami-based Old Liquors sold a bottle of Harewood Barbados Rum from 1780 for just under $30,000. According to the company’s announcement of the sale, that’s a big step up from the last time the bottle changed hands, which took place at a Christie’s auction in 2013.
In 2013, the bottle sold for $9,500. By 10 years later, the price had more than tripled, selling for $29,999.
VinePair helped explain what makes this rum so special. As their article details, this bottle was discovered inside Harewood House in 2011. Not long afterwards, the bottles found there were deemed to be the Guinness World Record holder for the oldest bottle of rum in existence.
Not all of the rum initially found at Harewood House was sold at auction. A few drops of it ended up being incorporated into a watch design from Speake-Marin — the higher-end option of which will set you back €20,000 (the equivalent of just over $21,600). It’s not yet clear what this bottle’s new owner plans to do with their purchase — but there are certainly numerous options before them.
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