At time of writing/tasting the LCBO sold out of the Constelation series of three bottles worth $32,000 in total. One buyer/investor bought both the $9,000 and $18,000 bottle. I explain why one would below. And, it’s not for the drinking, though I did have the privilege of a once-in-a-lifetime tasting of the $18,000 1978 Cask Dalmore.
Though I drink scotch, I am by no means an aficionado nor do I claim to know the difference between a blended 12 year and 12 year single malt. My palate is not yet refined enough, so when asked to be educated on scotch by Jonathan Driver of The Dalmore, I said “yes” and “what’s The Dalmore?”
The brand, though not new to Canada, hasn’t gotten the adequate amount of exposure it deserves against the likes of Crown Royal, Glenfiddich and The Macallan (famed in Mad Men). But the story of The Dalmore is quite interesting. Most of all are the stories around master distiller Richard Paterson’s experiments. His, then, forward thinking approach to transfer the contents of the American white oak casks to wine casks and leave the contents for a varied number of years to see what would happen. You’re playing with your investment but the results can lead to greatness. The Constellation series is such a result and the LCBO had three bottles valued at $32,000; a 37 year old foresight to develop this high end product. It also lead to the creation of the Dalmore King Alexander and Cigar malt.
You can see an excellent tasting by Richard Paterson himself and the Cigar malt here.
Immediately after I identified with the $300 King Alexander, apparently I have expensive taste, Jonathan pulls out the surprise of a lifetime. We taste an $18,000 bottle of scotch from the 1978 cask. I literally felt unworthy; buyers don’t even get to enjoy this pleasure.
The Dalmore 1976
I receive a lesson on “liquid assets” from Jonathan and conduct some online research. To fuel my investing consideration I discover that since 2008, the top 100 most heavily traded malts, as found on the Rare Whisky Icon 100 Index, provided investors a return of 214% compared to about 57% for the TSX composite.
To wrap my long winded story of how I found a new favourite scotch, this holiday season when you’re looking at the $100 Amber of Macallan take a chance on the 12 year single malt Dalmore ($90). You won’t be disappointed.
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