News

Mar 04, 2025

Glen Grant Uncorks $50,000 Scotch Whisky with a Trippy Twist

(Photo: The Glen Grant) On Monday, Speyside scotch distillery The Glen Grant unveiled a 65-year whisky packaged in a surrealist decanter — with an equally surrealist price tag to match. The whisky was

(Photo: The Glen Grant)

On Monday, Speyside scotch distillery The Glen Grant unveiled a 65-year whisky packaged in a surrealist decanter — with an equally surrealist price tag to match.

The whisky was distilled in 1958 using coal-fired pot stills before being filled into a single French Oak butt for over half a century. That barrel reportedly resided in Warehouse No.4, The Glen Grant’s oldest traditional stone dunnage warehouse, until it was ready to be revealed to the world.

The expression has been limited to a total of just 151 bottles that are slated to be released this month at a suggested retail price of $50,000. Expect aromas of blackberries, treacle and sandalwood that give way to an indulgent palate of fruit cake, sticky dates, orange and black cherry.

“The true scarcity of this spirit at 65 Years Old is testament to the unwavering approach to whisky making and visionary innovation which has always defined The Glen Grant,” Master Distiller Greig Stables remarked in a news release. “Although distilled back in 1958, the methods remain almost entirely the same today reflecting the legacy of our forefathers.”

As is often the case with bespoke, decades-old whiskies, the decanter is a work of art in its own right. Each bottle is housed inside a wood sculpture designed in the likeness of a Mobius strip, a looping mathematical structure that fits into itself with a half twist. Designer John Galvin fitted the decanter with several intricately engraved Himalayan Blue Poppies, an ultra-rare flower intended to mirror the ultra-rare nature of the whisky contained within. According to the brand, a handful of the elusive flowers still grow today at The Glen Grant’s Garden of Splendours, planted in 1886 by the eponymous “The Major” Grant himself.

Mature as it may be, The Glen Grant 65 Year Old is still a few years shy of the brand’s oldest offerings to date.

The distiller previously collaborated with designer John Galvin for Devotion 70-Year-Old, an opulent whisky uncorked in late 2023 as tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. A single bottle of the whisky raked in £81,250 (USD $101,300) at auction, proceeds for which benefitted the Royal Scottish Forestry Society. A few weeks later, the brand doubled down on its hot streak with the auction of The Visionary, a 68-year-old scotch that reportedly pulled £212,500 (USD $256,636). Both lots shattered the distiller’s previously held records.

For more information on its latest release, check out The Glen Grant’s website here.

Pedro Wolfe is an editor at Bottle Raiders with a specialty in agave spirits. With several years of experience writing for the New York Daily News and the Foothills Business Daily under his belt, Pedro aims to combine quality reviews and recipes with incisive articles on the cutting edge of the spirits world. Pedro has traveled to the heartland of the spirits industry in Tequila, Mexico, and has conducted interviews with agave spirits veterans throughout Mexico, South Africa and California. Through this diverse approach, Bottle Raiders aims to celebrate not only tequila but the rich tapestry of agave spirits that spans mezcal, raicilla, bacanora, pulque and so much more.