If you were to choose five stupidly special Scotch whiskies you would otherwise never be able to sample, what would they be? We’ve tried to make that decision easier by delivering our own list of some of the most exclusive malts ever created.

1. Royal Brackla 1924, 60yo (40% abv)

An understated bottle for a remarkable spirit. What little remains of this Scotch fetches a price worthy of its heritage. A unique 60 year old Highland single malt produced from a long 70 hour fermentation delivering a crisp finish despite it’s huge age stamp.

Royal Brackla holds credit as one of the first Scotch distilleries to have earned a Royal Warrant when gifted in 1835 by King William IV. Further to their credit Queen Victoria was said to be a huge fan, they were one of the spirits used in the earliest recorded blended whiskey (c. 1860) and can boast the only distillery which doubled as an RAF pilot training school during WWII.

Now owned by drinks giant Bacardi-Martini, Royal Brackla distills primarily for blending in Dewars White Label than as a release under its own label. That said, they still produce a small yield of mature single malts which can be acquired through a small number of exclusive merchants.

Value: GBP£7,500 / USD$12,050

[Brand Page: thewhiskyexchange.com]

2. Macallan 64yo Lalique Cire Perdu (42.5% abv)

With a long-standing relationship with French lead crystal glass artisans Lalique, Macallan paid homage to the companies 150th anniversary with the release of Macallan 64 year old Lalique Cire Perdu, in honour of founding director Rene Lalique. To date the oldest whisky ever released in the companies 190 year history, this 42.5% Macallan single malt is a marriage of three sherry seasoned Spanish oak casks, laid down in 1942, 1945 and 1946 respectively. While the mouth salivates to imagine a dram of a 64 year old Macallan, this release is more about the decanter. Named for the use of a ‘lost wax’ technique historically common with ancient brass sculpting, Lalique chose to re establish the Cire Perdue process to manufacture a one of a kind decanter for a one of a kind whisky.

Resplendent with scenes from the 150 hectare Macallan estate and the river Spey, the one-off decanter and liquid, spent 8 months traveling around the world on a fundraising journey auctioning off tasting of the liquid in aid of Charity:Water. At the end of their 12 stop journey, the final decanter and liquid was auctioned off at Sotheby’s in New York for a record-breaking sum of USD$460,000, a new world record at the time. In total, this unique decanter and liquid donated $605,000 for charity, a sum which will help change the lives of an estimated 30,250 people.

Value: GBP£286,327 / USD$460,000

[Brand Page: themacallan.com]

Mortlach 70yo (46.1%)

In the second release in their Generations Range, Mortlach 70 year old is a one-off cask of single malt purchased by spirit merchants Gordon & Macphail just before the outbreak of the Second World War. After feeding the angels for more than seven decades and passing through three generations of the Urquhart family, the final barrel yielded only 54 full decanters which took less than two weeks to sell.

A unique taste of liquid history, Mortlach 70 is a sample of the way whiskey used to be made. When laid down in 1938, Sherry casks were cheaper and more accessible than modern day American Oak. Today ex sherry butts come with an average of 14 times more cost than ex bourbon barrels. As such this malt has spent its entire bonded maturation inside a Spanish oak, ex-sherry bodega hogshead producing aromas of Maraschino cherries and Madeira cake with a taste of dried fruit and tobacco leaf balanced with a hints of caramel.

Each bottle arrives in a hand-blown tear shaped crystal decanter complete with Stirling silver stopper. All script aside, in 2011 whisky guru Jim Murray was given an opportunity to sample a dram, judging it to be 94.5/100 in his annual Whisky Bible and winner of both the Best Single Malt over 41 Years and Best Single Barrel categories.

Value: Negotiable

[Visit Brand Page: masterofmalt.com]

Aisla T’Orten 105yo (40.7%)

Ask any experienced whisky ambassador and they’ll tell you it’s not about age but maturation, that said how can you not get excited about a bottle of 105yo?

Exclusive to fine malt whisky retailers Master of Malt, the worlds oldest and arguably most expensive bottle of Scotch to date was released April 1st, 2011. Selling in limited stocks for £870,000 a bottle (USD$1.4 million), this miraculous spirit was apparently purchased from the private cellar of Aberdeen-based historian Allie Sisell.

Produced at the long closed Aisla T’Orten Distillery in the Highlands by Master Distiller Aethenias Simonvent, this remarkably hard to sample whisky is made even more so by the fact that it’s all bollocks. If you missed it, the product was launched on April Fools Day and even cheekily carried anagrams inside it’s names (Allie Sisell = ‘lies all lies’ / Aisla T’Orten Distillery = ‘It’s not a real distillery’ / Aethenias Simonvent = ‘This is not even a name’). That said it didn’t stop inquiries coming in and a host of bloggers (eg: Bornrich.com) from sharing the story which is still carried today.

Value: M$870,000 Monopoly dollars

[Visit Brand Page: masterofmalt.com]

Isabella’s Islay, Many Year Old (?%)

Unfortunately from what we can tell, it seems this one isn’t a joke. Self exulted as “the most luxurious alcoholic beverage in the world today”, Isabella’s Islay comes in a choice of two decanters – ‘Original’ and ‘Special Edition’. What little can be found about the spirit is described as a cask strength Islay, non chill filtered “very old single malt whisky”, matured for “many years”.

From what we’ve been able to uncover, it’s the brain child of small independent bottlers Marshall’s Whiskies who release independent bottling’s of Speyside and Islay malts under the Ellenstown label with the Islay rumoured to be from the Ardbeg Distillery.

But let’s be honest, who cares what’s inside when you buy a bottle (that strangely resembling the Macallan Lalique Cire Perdu decanter) made from English Crystal and covered entirely in white gold before completely bedazzled in diamonds with ruby encrusted writing. Too flashy for you? Not a problem, you can also purchase the ‘Special Edition’ decanter. Also made from English Crystal entirely covered in white gold, but with only the name and nape of the decanter’s neck encrusted with diamonds above an ancient hand crafted leaf motif designed by a ‘Master Crystal Maker’.

Our advice; open your own distillery instead.

Value: ‘Original’ – £3.8 Million (USD$6.2 Million) / ‘Special Edition’ – £450,000 (USD$740,000)

[Visit Brand page: luxurybeveragecompany.com]

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