What Does a $36,000 Bottle of Whisky Taste Like?

Iconic Scotch brand honours their master distiller’s 60 years in the whisky business with an ultra-rare sprit

Much has changed since October of 1960. (I mean, much has changed since October of 2020, but that’s another story.)

In 1960, the Beatles—John, Paul, George, Stuart and Pete—were playing in Hamburg. The Vietnam War had just begun. JFK and Nixon were nominated by their parties to vie for the U.S. presidency. BC Ferries’ first-ever sailing set out from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay. Gordie Howe overtook Maurice Richard as the leading scorer in NHL history.

And on October 24th, 1960, in the little town of Rothes, Scotland, at the Glen Grant distillery on the banks of the River Spey, a European oak cask that had originally carried Spanish Oloroso sherry was filled with whisky, dubbed cask #5040, then left in a stone dunnage warehouse to mature. And left some more.

For 22,000 days, the whisky, the oils in the oak, and the remnants of the dark, sweet sherry slowly co-mingled, as the world outside—to quote Brooks Hatlen in The Shawshank Redemption—“got itself in a big, damn hurry”.

Six decades later, Glen Grant’s master distiller Dennis Malcolm was sampling drams from different casks to choose one to bottle to mark and celebrate his 60 years in the whisky business.

Born on the distillery grounds in 1946, Dennis had followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps working at Glen Grant. He began apprenticing as a cooper—a builder of barrels—when cask #5040 was just one year into its maturation. Tasting it all those years later, he selected it for its fresh, nutty and light fruit-forward flavour, and its golden-brown colour which evoked the chestnuts young Dennis would split open while playing there as a child.

Mr. Malcolm oversaw the non-chill filtering and bottling at 52.8 percent ABV of 360 hand-blown crystal decanters, custom made by Glencairn Crystal Studio to mirror the shape of the distillery’s signature tall, slender stills. Hand-numbered, signed and encased in a sustainable walnut case with a certificate of authenticity, the ultra-rare Glen Grant Dennis Malcolm 60th Anniversary Edition is the oldest-to-date bottling in the 181-year-old brand’s history. And a decanter of it retails—if you can find it—for close to the price of a Tesla Model 3, selling at auction for much more.

I’m fortunate to have just been able to taste a sample. So, how was it?

Delicious.

Complex, smooth, delightfully fruity, nutty, a little smoky.

All the flavours harmonious, taking turns being the prevalent sensation, nothing ever playing too loud or overshadowing the other elements.

True, knowing the tale of its long gestation, its rarity, its price tag, these details echo preconceptions in your mind, like hearing a song by someone you know is a famous musician’s kid.

But I assert that in a blind taste test, knowing none of the legacy, history or number of zeros involved, you’d still conclude that you’d just experienced something remarkably sophisticated and nuanced, created carefully, fastidiously, unhurriedly, by an unmistakable master of their craft.

The decanters are available for purchase at the following BC Liquor Store locations: 39th & Cambie (5555 Cambie Street in Vancouver) and at Park Royal (785 Park Royal North, West Vancouver).