World's oldest malt – yours for £10,000 a bottle

Published on Thursday 11 March 2010 21:35

IT HAS been more than 70 years in the making and was laid down in a small Scottish distillery the year before the outbreak of the Second World War.

• Claire Urquhart, great-granddaughter of the whisky's creator, John Urquhart, holds a 10,000 decanter of the malt. Picture: Jane Barlow

But yesterday, amidst the splendour of Edinburgh Castle, the contents of that single cask saw the light of day for the first time at the launch of the world's oldest bottled single malt whisky.

The extremely rare Mortlach 70 Years Old Speyside Single Malt Whisky released by Gordon & MacPhail under its "Generations" brand was piped into the Castle escorted by guards from The Highlanders (4th Battalion).

The Spanish oak hogshead cask – formerly for bodega sherry – which was on display at the castle yesterday yielded 54 full-size and 162 small decanters bottled at cask strength.

However, collectors will need to dig deep – a 70cl decanter will sell for 10,000, while the 20cl version costs 2,500.

The new-make spirit from Speyside's Mortlach Distillery was filled into the cask on 15 October, 1938 by John Urquhart, the grandfather of the company's joint managing directors Michael and David Urquhart. It then took several years for it to mature into a malt.

Michael Urquhart said the family had deliberately chosen to launch the 70-year-old single malt on the 70th day of 2010. He said: "This is a very special day for us, one we've literally been anticipating for generations. Our family has been in the whisky business for a long time, with each generation building on a lifetime's expertise to the next.

"We believe Morlach 70 Years Old is a malt without comparison. If the reaction of those lucky enough to enjoy a dram today is anything to go by, whisky fans and people wishing to own a unique piece of Scotland's liquid history will be very excited about it."

Mr Urquhart added the company had presented a bottle to the Queen but she had requested that it should go on display at the National Museum of Scotland as part of the display celebrating Scotland's culture and heritage.

Whisky writer and connoisseur Charles MacLean described the world's oldest single malt as "a delicate, fresh, vital, fruity whisky, with unusual attributes of waxiness and smokiness".

Each bottle will be presented in a tear-shaped Glencairn crystal decanter with a silver stopper.

Douglas Alexander, managing director of capital-based Navyblue Design company, said he deliberately designed the shape of the bottle to be "eye-catching".

"We had discussions with Gordon & MacPhail about what sort of message it would send out and decided that the tear-drop shape represented both the idea of the "last drop" of the whisky from the cask and at the same time gave a contemporary look to play on the generations theme. "

70-year-old is worth every last drop to whisky lovers

EXPERTS last night spoke of their delight at the introduction of a 70-year-old malt.

Other aged malts have appeared on the market in recent years, including a 62-year-old Dalmore and a 64-year-old Glenfiddich.

However, whisky lovers claimed the new 70-year-old would quickly become a collectors' item.

A Scotch Whisky Association spokesman said: "It is our understanding that the Mortlach would be the first 70-year-old Scotch Whisky bottled for retail sale.

"There is a growing international collectors' market for rare whiskies and an exciting range of bottlings being made available to consumers."

Darren Leitch, manager of the Whisky Shop in Edinburgh's Victoria Street, said the historic nature of Mortlach would make it attractive.

"Being the oldest whisky gives it that profile and collectors will be drawn to it. The oldest one on sale to date has been the 64-year-old Glenfiddich so it eclipses that by quite a bit.

"It takes a lot of care and attention to get a whisky to that age and its interesting its managed to retain alcohol at that strength after 70 years as alcohol evaporates.

"People definitely spend a fair bit of money on whisky. I'd like to think there are some out there who will splash out 10,000 on a bottle for drinking, but it's mainly for collecting.

"We've noticed over the past year that people want to invest in things other than banks and wine and whisky are popular at the moment."