A bottle of 30-year-old Irish whiskey has become the most expensive in the world after being sold to an American collector for $3 million, announced the Dublin company The Craft Irish Whiskey.
The price reached by this exclusive unit from The Emerald Isle exceeds by $100,000 the record held since last November by the bottle of The Macallan 1926 Scotch whiskey, sold at auction.
Irish and Scottish "firewater" no longer only compete for their spelling ('whiskey' or 'whiskey' respectively), they also now do so in the luxury market, historically dominated by British spirits.
The bottle of The Emerald Isle, a triple-distilled single malt whiskey, was included in an elegant walnut box that also contained a decanting decanter, a personalized wristwatch, an emerald-encrusted Fabergé egg, and two Cohiba cigars. .
"The future of whiskey is Irish. I am excited to be part of it, not only as a collector, but also, and more importantly, as a drinker," says buyer Mike Daley in a statement released by The Craft Irish Whiskey.
In his opinion, "uisce beatha" (literally "water of life" in the Gaelic language) distilled in Ireland is "on the rise", although he recognizes that it is a "relatively new phenomenon", which is why he has begun to invest in a market “already crowded” for luxury Scotch whisky.
"However, we are starting to see Irish luxury coming into its own. I am sure that in a few years it will reach the place where the Scots are today," predicts Daley.
According to the Spirits Council of the United States, the price of some high-end Irish whiskeys has skyrocketed almost 2,800% in the last two decades, The Craft Irish Whiskey states in the note.
Its founder and CEO, Jay Bradley, celebrates that The Emerald Isle has become the most expensive bottle in the world, surpassing a legendary brand like Macallan.
He acknowledges that some critics maintain that the luxurious "extras" that accompany this unit, such as the Cohiba cigarettes, the watch or the Fabergé egg, have inflated the final price to reach 3 million dollars.
In this regard, Bradley recalls that The Macallan 1926 was part of a lot of 12 bottles that carried a label designed by the Italian painter Valerio Adami, "which added considerable value to its price at auction."
"I founded The Craft Irish Whiskey with the aim of making Irish whiskey the most sought-after luxury spirit and restoring Ireland's reputation as one of the world's finest craftsmen. This brings us closer to achieving this," concludes Bradley.
