Do you ever find yourself fantasizing about blowing your kid’s college fund on a heavily aged whiskey to the tune of 50 years? (No, of course not, us neither). But let’s say you happened to scrounge up some extra change and could afford to spend serious cash on a special spirit. An attractive choice would be Glenfiddich‘s newly unveiled 50-year-old scotch. It arrives as the elder statesmen in a trio of single malt releases the legendary Dufftown distillery is dubbing the “Time Re:Imagined Collection” and comes at a pearl-clutching price tag of $50,000 a bottle.
It’s the brand’s first-ever ultra-premium range. So, what can you expect from a liquid that costs more than a mid-sized sedan? A sturdy nose of citrus, to start. The fruity bouquet is followed on the palate by a mellifluous wave of vanilla and burnt caramel that sustains itself as a lingering sweetness in the finish. These dynamic notes are the result of a meticulous maturation process: three different American Oak casks—all pulled from the same warehouse—were married together and finished in a separate American oak refill cask for an additional two years.
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This added aging invigorates the juice with a punchiness often lacking in a half-century-old spirit. It also imparts “much more distillery character than you might otherwise get,” according to Glenfiddich Malt Master Brian Kinsman. In fact, Kinsman is one of three malt masters who have stewarded these casks dating back to the 1960s. “It is our responsibility to find the delicate balance between the taste of the whisky and the intensity of the oak cask.”