World's oldest whisky goes on sale -- Feeling rich?

From http://www.asylum.co.uk/

By Tom Cullen

It is older than Chuck Norris and was laid down in a small Scottish distillery the year before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Behold, the world's oldest whisky ever to go on general sale. A cool £10,000 and a bottle of this malty goodness is yours.

The Mortlach 70-year-old Speyside was sampled by a select group of tasters at a ceremony in Edinburgh Castle, yesterday.

And bottles of the rare piece of Scotland's ''liquid history'' have now hit the market.

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 (or wealthy boozers) will need to dig deep – a 70cl decanter will sell for £10,000, while the 20cl version costs £2,500.

It was filled into its cask on October 15 1938 on the order of John Urquhart, the grandfather of the firm's joint managing directors, David and Michael Urquhart.

Exactly 70 years later, the decision was made to empty the cask and bottle its contents.

A bottle of Mortlach was piped into Edinburgh Castle today and tasted by guests in the Queen Anne Room. David and Michael Urquhart today described it as a malt ''without comparison''.They would though, wouldn't they?

Michael Urquhart said the company had presented a bottle to the Queen but the vermouth drinker requested that it should go on display at the National Museum of Scotland.

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". That's everything then, surely?

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Each bottle will be presented in a slick, tear-shaped Glencairn crystal decanter with a silver stopper. Keep reading to see some of the other rarest, oldest and most expensive whiskys ever.

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Some of the world's most expensive and oldest whiskys.

Name: Bruichladdich 40 Year Old
From: Bruichladdich cellars, Islay Island, Scotland
Age: Guess...
Price: £1,020 a bottle
This is the oldest ever bottling by Bruichladdich and the most expensive to come from Islay. The whisky was distilled in October 1964 and filled into fresh bourbon casks before four decades of slow aging on the coast. The result is probably the most complex Bruichladdich ever produced. It'll get you pretty hammered, too. Which is nice.
Name: Glen Garioch 1958
From: Glen Garioch is found outside Aberdeen in the farming town of Old Meldrum.
Age: 46 years when removed.
Price: £1,250
An ancient bottling from a fine distillery. A limited edition of 336 bottles, with only 60 being released in the UK makes this one of the most expensive Highland whiskys. At 46 years old this is the oldest Glen Garioch ever released. Presented in a 'Rose' hardwood box with velvet lining (ooh fancy!). Glen Garioch is a distillery with a comparatively low profile, and quality has varied over its lifetime under a succession of different owners - but real aficionados will tell you that the older expressions are some of the best malts in Scotland. Or so says the oldest, wisest bloke in the office. He smells like whisky too and it's only 11am.

Name: Chivas Regal Royal Salute
From: Strathisla Distillery at Keith, Moray in Speyside, Scotland.
Age: 50
Price: £6,000
Released in 2003 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, its lead malt is the superb Strathisla, which accounts for the exceptionally rich and creamy character. Only 255 bottles of the Scottish whisky were released worldwide, which helps account for the high price. We reckon you'd fine this bad boy in Darth Vader's drinks cabinet.
Name: Macallan Fine & Rare Collection, 1939
From: Macallan Distillery near Easter Elchies House, at Craigellachie in the Speyside
Age: 40
Price: £6,000
The 1939 was first bottled in 1979, hence its designation as 40 years old. Then, in 2002, the entire Fine & Rare Collection was rebottled for the sake of consistency. Macallan describes it as having rich peat and powerful wood flavors overlaid with sweet toffee and dried fruits. We can't confirm or deny that, because we don't have £6,000 to spare. We have £6 and it's all going on Peroni.
Name: Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937
From: Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown, Scotland
Age: 69 years when sold.
Price: £12,000 for one bottle.
This exceptionally rare spirit was auctioned on April 4, 2006 in Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal, New York City. The spirit was slowly aged in cask for 64 years and bottled in 2001, resulting in a liquid of deep, robust character. With a rich walnut colour, nose of toffee, cinnamon and cloves and sweet, cedar-y palette. That's what we thought when we necked the stuff after 4 hours in the Dog and Duck, anyway.
Name: Glenavon Special Liqueur Whisky
From: Glenavon Distillery, Banffshire, Scotland.
Age: Upwards of 150 years (didn't go on general sale)
Price: Auctioned for £14,850
Experts believe this is the oldest single bottle in history and was owned by an Irish family for generations, before eventually being sold in auction to an anonymous bidder. We'd like to think the mystery man sunk the lot in one booze-fuelled night of debauchery. The green bottle is unusually small in size and holds about 14fl oz (about 400ml) and was bottled in the 1850s. Yes it's older than the Mortlach but it really is just a one off find and as such doesn't get the crown of wrinkliest whisky.
Name: Macallan Fine and Rare Collection, 1926
From: Macallan Distillery near Easter Elchies House, at Craigellachie in the Speyside
Age: 60
Price: £25,000
The oldest and most sought-after of Macallan's revolutionary Fine & Rare Collection is now sold out. It is still possible to taste this totally unique Scotch whisky at the Old Homestead Steakhouse in the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, N.J. However, it sells for $3,300 (£2,000) per dram. In 2007, a bottle of 1926 vintage The Macallan was sold at a Christie's auction for $54,000 (£36,000), making it one of the most expensive bottles of liquor ever sold.

Name: Dalmore Oculus
From: Glasgow based distillers Whyte & Mackay.
Age: Blend of whiskys as old as 140 years
Price: Auctioned for £27,600
Blended from some of the most exceptional whiskies of the past 140 years, the single bottle had been expected to reach up to £20,000. Instead, it raised the largest amount of money ever paid for a Dalmore whisky. The buyer asked to remain anonymous.The oldest whisky in the blend was distilled in 1868, with others from 1878, 1922, 1926, 1939 and 1951.