The final 50 bottles of one of the oldest, highest quality Scotch whiskies ever produced have been released to coincide with Chinese New Year and has already become one of the biggest whisky investment stories of 2022 in the process.

The Gordon & MacPhail Glen Grant 72 Year Old, dating back to 1948, had a run of just 290 bottles and was rated by Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible as the joint-best whisky ever made rating it a staggering 97.5 out of 100.

It also received two awards for the best single malt and the best single cask of the year, partly due to its excellence, but also in no small part due to the exceptional good fortune of whisky this old having absolutely no issues.

Jim Murray himself described it as a ‘one-in-a-million’ chance of happening and called the whisky a near-miracle.

Whilst there are older whiskies available, even by Gordon & MacPhail themselves, the appeal of these whiskies comes from the prestige of their name and age, rather than the taste itself.

However, the 72-year-old maintained its vitality, strength and taste, which is almost unheard of with older vintages.

The whisky is sold in a hand-cut crystal decanter and display box, as is the case with most prestigious and older whiskies.

The initial pre-order supply of 200 bottles was quickly acquired by January, with 50 more bottles withheld until after Chinese New Year at the start of February 2022. This took the form of a launch allocation of 100 bottles, a January allocation of 100 bottles and a final pre-order of 50 bottles.

After those bottles sell out, the whisky is expected to quickly appreciate in price on the secondary market, to the point that after the last bottles are sold the price may reach £100,000, over twice the £40,000 selling price.