march-2012

WORDS WILLIAM PARRY
Whisky Max
EDINBURGH How do you like your whisky? On the
rocks? With a splash of water? In the unlikely event
that your answer is “at £50,000 [€60,000] a bottle”,
then you’re in luck. Until the end of March, you can
submit your sealed bid for the only bottle of Zenith
(whiskyshop.com/zenith), a blend of Dalmore’s single
malts from 1926, 1951 and 1964. Coming from one of
Scotland’s most renowned distilleries, it’s certainly a
mouth-watering prospect, but with 50 grand as the
starting bid (and word is that several bids already
well exceed that), you’ll have to really like your whisky.
Zenith’s valuation may be extreme, but it’s in line
with a trend that saw prices for bottles of exceedingly
rare scotch break several records last year. One
bottle of Dalmore 62 year old sold at Singapore
airport’s duty free shop for £125,000 (€150,200).
This liquid gold isn’t just for drinking. Veteran
whisky-investment consultant and independent
valuer Andy Simpson (whiskyhighland.co.uk) sees
“investment-grade scotch” as smart speculation. In
2011, he bought and sold some 45 bottles of scotch,
which showed an average increase of 130% in a year.
According to Simpson, the top performing 250
bottles increased in value by over 50% in the last
quarter of 2011. “That was exceptional. I don’t think
the rises we’ve seen recently are sustainable,” he
concedes. “I see increases becoming more gradual.
But do I see the market crashing? No. Do I see scotch
as a viable, long-term investment? Yes.”
The word whisky, from the Scottish Gaelic uisge
beatha, means “water of life” and it is certainly that
to today’s otherwise lacklustre UK economy. Exports
of scotch in the fi rst three quarters of 2011 reached
record levels of almost £3 (€3.6) billion – an increase
of 23% in the same period of 2010 – and this
demand is due primarily to the emerging wealth of
the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China),
where scotch is a status symbol.
THE BUZZ | TRAVEL NEWS
A WEE DRAM A visit to the ’Burgh is the best place to kick off your whisky education
THE SCOTCH WHISKY
EXPERIENCE
This museum off ers a range
of whisky tours, tastings and
a well-stocked shop. It also
houses the Diageo Claive Vidiz
Collection of 3,384 rare bottles
of scotch, shown left.
scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk
MALMAISON
Stay at Edinburgh’s scenically
situated fi ve-star hotel and
relax with a large glass of fi re
water. Make your selection
from an impressive menu of
more than 60 whiskies.
malmaison.com/hotels/
edinburgh
THE BOW BAR
There are more than 200
single malts to choose from at
this traditional Scottish pub,
where the focus is on whisky,
including a featured Malt of
the Moment. 80 West Bow,
Old Town, Edinburgh; tel: +44
(0)131 226 7667
TRAVELLER | 15