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Whiskey has become an increasingly expensive hobby to partake in over the past 15 years or so, and while some people would lead you to believe the hype has started to die down, there’s been yet another record-setting auction that suggests that isn’t the case.
There’s not a single factor that led to whiskey experiencing a spike in popularity toward the tail-end of the 2000s. Most experts would point to the resurgence of cocktail culture as well as the oft-discussed “Mad Men Effect,” but regardless of the culprit, the increase in demand (and the subsequent rise in prices) has been impossible to ignore.
That reality is evident to anyone who remembers the days when Buffalo Trace was firmly considered a “budget” whiskey and you could grab a bottle of Blanton’s for less than $50. There’s obviously a big difference between the liquid in those bottles and the stuff that’s deemed worthy enough to be sold at an auction, but the battle for rare whiskey also has heated up in a big way.
In 2018, a bottle of Macallan 1926 set a record when it was purchased for $1.2 million—around five years before another bottle of the same stuff set a new mark to beat after being auctioned off for $2.7 million.
However, according to KTLA, the bar has been raised yet again two months after that sale was finalized.
The outlet reports the honor now officially belongs to The Emerald Isle, a 30-year-old whiskey produced by the folks at the Craft Irish Whiskey Company. A grand total of seven bottles were produced after the company’s “Master of Whiskey” stumbled across what he described as the “perfect” liquid while sampling casks in the warehouse, and collector Mike Daley ultimately shelled out $2.8 million for the right to secure one of them.
Now, it’s obviously worth noting the whiskey wasn’t solely responsible for that staggering price.
The producer teamed up with the legendary jewelers at Fabergé to create a collector’s set that includes a “Celtic Egg” that’s made from 18k yellow gold, covered in more than 100 diamonds, and contains an uncut emerald, and each bottle also comes with a one-of-a-kind, 22-karat gold wristwatch inspired by one of the “Seven of Wonders of Ireland.”
That’s not all, as the set comes in a walnut cabinet that’s also home to a humidor that contains a couple of Cohiba Gran Reserva VI cigars.
Must be nice.