How to Spend $10,000 on Scotch

Charlene Rooke May 31, 2019

Ten thousand dollars sounds like a lot of of Scotch money, but it won’t take you very far in the rarefied world of ultra-aged single malt. A funny thing happens to those rare whiskies: they evaporate. Not from your bar — but through loss of the so-called angels’ share, which depletes oak barrels of aging spirit at a rate of a few per cent a year in Scotland. After a few decades of coddling, there are significant barrel-sitting costs to account for — and just a fraction of the liquid the distillery started with.

Old single malt Scotch is exponentially pricier than your casual 12-year-old bottle, but trust us — it’s worth it. If you have $10G to blow, these bottles are all available in Canada. Drink them to get an Ivy League–calibre Scotch education from some of the best distilleries. Or — since The Wealth Report 2019 ranked rare whisky as the investment category with the highest value appreciation over the past decade (at a staggering 582 per cent growth) — you could also just put them in the vault.

$10,000 IN ONE BOTTLE

At 40, Scotch goes deeply rancio, a wine term describing the funky, complex and deeply delicious character that comes with age: think cigar box, leather, nuts, dried fruit, and even mushrooms. Drink it slowly — you’ll savour new layers in every sip.

Dalmore 40 Year Old

$9,995, thedalmore.com

$10,000 IN TWO BOTTLES

Nerd out comparing two different time-capsule drams. Is that whiff of smoke in your glass the salt-and-seaweed taste of Islay, from the now-shuttered Port Ellen distillery? Or is it the oilier, graphite-and-campfire whiff of the Highlands?

Port Ellen 37 Year Old

$5,000, thewhiskyexchange.com

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Macallan M

$5,700, themacallan.com

$10,000 IN FIVE BOTTLES

A five-bottle buy seems like a no-brainer. Scotland comprises five whisky-producing regions, after all. But since Scotch older than you from the Lowlands and the Campbeltown peninsula is relatively rare, feel free to double down in key regions.

Tullibardine Custodians 1970

Highlands region