THE GLENEAGLES Hotel in rural Perthshire has a new claim to fame – as the stockist of one of the world’s priciest bottles of whisky.
‘The Reach’ by The Macallan will be exclusively available at The Still Room in The Gleneagles Retail Arcade, at a price of around £150,000.
Matured for the past 81 years with only 288 bottles available worldwide, this ‘rare and precious’ whisky is a true collector’s item, with a price that reflects not only its exceptional quality and age, but also its exclusivity.
Tasting notes for The Reach describe it as a single malt Scotch whisky which embodies The Macallan’s signature smoothness, but with a profile presenting a diverse array of flavours, offering notes of dark chocolate, sweet cinnamon, and aromatic peat, leading on to treacle toffee, crystalised ginger and charred pineapple.
The notes continue: “Matured for 81 years in a single, sherry-seasoned oak cask and combined with the distillation process used in the 1940’s, the spirit gives a rich and sweet smokiness that is subtle but distinct, while the use of antique oak adds depth and complexity to the overall taste.”
As befits such a special drop, the liquid is presented in a mouth-blown glass decanter, cradled on a bronze sculpture of three hands, designed by the sculptor Saskia Robinson, capturing notable figures from The Macallan’s rich history.
One sculpted hand commemorates the distillery workers of the 1940s, the second is the hand of former chairman, Allan Shiach, and the third is that of today’s Master Whisky Maker, Kirsteen Campbell, thus paying homage to the distillery’s past, present, and future.
This new collaboration between Gleneagles and The Macallan is described as a celebration of Scotland’s rich cultural heritage and a testament to the enduring legacy of these two iconic institutions.
The Still Room already boasts an impressive collection of over 200 bottles of rare and independent single malt Scotch whiskies – but with the addition of The Reach, offers an ‘unparalleled whisky experience’ for even the most discerning of whisky connoisseurs.
