Oh, they have all that. But the question was about the untrained palate, and the smoothness is the first thing that they would notice. They may or may not notice the depth of flavor, but the lack of coughing would probably be the first thing they notice.
Speaking of which, time to pour myself a wee dram of Balvenie Doublewood 12. I really should buy another bottle of the 17.
In my profligate “youth”, I bought a bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac. It was (and still is) the most expensive alcohol I’ve ever purchased at $1,499 (before tax). I bought it when I was 39. I opened it at my 40th birthday party (which was a major event, thanks to my wife). My friends and I all had a snort around midnight. One of my best friends, who is NOT a high-end drinker, took a sip and said “I thought you were an idiot for buying this, but God damn, that is the smoothest, best tasting booze I have ever had in my life. Cheers!” And it was.
FYI, that bottle lasted 10 years. The tradition became midnight on my birthday, if you were still at the house, the Louis Tres came out and we had a snort. We finished the bottle at my 50th.
I’m past those days and Louis has become much more expensive, but I do miss it. Still the best damn booze I’ve ever had.
Seriously impressive story! I just checked the price at our government-run liquor monopoly in case I wanted to pop over and get a bottle tomorrow: 
You could buy a fairly decent used car for that amount!
136 proof? That is barrel strength.
Japan in particular has a gift-giving culture. Insanely expensive gifts are a part of it. This article goes into some detail although it is talking about fruit, not booze, that costs hundreds of dollars, not thousands. Fruit is popular because it’s consumed and doesn’t clutter up the house.
I’m somewhat the same. I did try a glass of Talisker once that wasn’t too bad; can’t remember the age of it, though.
(Thank you, Cabin Pressure.)
Some bottle conditioned beers can age well in the bottle and increase in value over time. A good example is Fuller’s Vintage Ale. You can get the latest 2023 vintage for £7 and the brewery has a 2002 for £100.
Yeah, that’s about what it is selling for here as well. Stupid how expensive it’s become. That is WELL above inflation rates since I bought it. I guess they’re still selling enough to make it work their while, but no way I’d buy it now.
I do still have the teak box, Baccarat crystal bottle, and even the gold foil used to seal it. Looks like just that is worth between $100-$200 on eBay. Ridiculous. The joy was in drinking it, not staring at the bottle.
I went to a Sam Adams Brewery shareholders meeting and they served some Utopia beer. I don’t think I’d ever spend $400 for a bottle of beer, but the thimble-sized cups we were served were amazing.
Out of curiosity – not that I’m going to buy a $5000 bottle of cognac any time soon – I checked to see if any stores had them, or if it was just the 8 they had in the warehouse. I was surprised, to put it mildly. There are 97 bottles available in 43 stores; add in the 8 in the warehouse, and they have 105 of them! One store alone has 10 of them.
That’s kind of what I meant. It’s really, really, REALLY good cognac. But it’s also produced in relatively high quantities (somewhere in the several thousands of cases according to one website) although special editions are much more limited.
Look I get it, it’s a blend of 1,200 varieties of eau de vie all aged between 40 and 100 years in special barrels that apparently aren’t even made anymore. But the price just seems out of line and the fact that your area has over 100 bottles available says it probably isn’t flying off the shelves. If I had a little extra money laying around and it was ~$2k, I might think about it, but $4-5k? No way.
My sister spent a year in Japan and talked about the gift culture. Wrapping/presentation is almost as important as what’s inside. Also, with fruit, she said the appearance of the fruit was more important than the taste. That’s a little too effete for me.
If you collect Baccarat crystal, it would be worth it to you. But point taken.
Building off this OP, if you were to buy a bottle for special occasions (like the cognac mentioned above) that you’d keep for years, what would you get? I’m thinking of something in the $300-500 range, for birthdays and special occasions to have a glass to sip.
I’m thinking I would go for a bourbon or scotch, maybe a Balvenie 21 Port wood or a high end bourbon.
Well, you got me curious. The Remy’s I know of are the VSOP, the XO, the Louis Tres, and the various “collector’s editions”. There is a VAST gap between the VSOP and XO (both widely available under $200) and the Louis Tres. VSOP is okay, XO is slightly better. Neither is within light-years of the Louis.
BUT. I did find this:
Right around your price point ($400-$600/750ml). Now I’m really curious about it. It certainly doesn’t have the flash of the Louis, but it sounds damn intriguing.
FWIW, for me, cognac is the liquor of choice for the special occasion long-term bottle. I’d be too tempted to hit the bourbon too often for extended usage, but, as much as I love it, cognac is a good once-in-a-while.
I can’t reach for a bottle without intoning “Wherrrre’s my Talisker?!?”
Especially now that the Six Nations Rugby Tournament is on!
I picture Benedict Cumberbatch and Roger Allam flying me there (and John Finnemore searching for my Talisker… which, on topic, is a decent Islay scotch but not too expensive).
.
Oh, just listen to BBC’s Cabin Pressure, you’ll get it…
Bottles I have bought for this purpose are Octomore and Old Carter. That Heaven Hill would go on my list too. Most of the Ardbeg special releases for scotch.
OP here. Fascinating tales, everyone! I did a bit of math and realized I couldn’t afford a sip anyway. There are 17 shots per fifth so even if you cut the amount in half you are talking a $3000 sip of MaCallans.
To switch topics slightly I have tried maple syrup aged in bourbon barrels. The first time I tried it was the best. The freshly opened bottle of syrup smelled like bourbon! But none of the bottles since then have had such a nice aroma. And I really couldn’t tell much difference in the taste compared to plain bottled syrup.
I guess I’m a mac n cheese guy instead of a caviar and truffles guy.
Hey, you can have three of the four!
I have found several MacDonald whiskys. Most of them are just a release named MacDonald by another distillery. But here is Sandy MacDonald:
https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/b/304/sandy-macdonald-blended-scotch-whisky
I took a road trip with a friend to Missouri today to get some weed and we stopped at a liquor store. I was just browsing and saw a bottle of Hennessy Cognac (750ml) for $4999.99. In hindsight, I wish I would have asked if there was a discount on cases? I get a 20% discount when I buy vodka by the case.