Diamond Jubilee by John Walker and Sons

As Queen Elizabeth and her loyal subjects celebrate her 60 year reign, known as the "Diamond Jubilee", I'm sure there were many toasts being made in her honor. To commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Richard Watling, of Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust or QEST, and David Gates of Johnny Walker, perfected an limited addition whisky blend that is fit for a royal toast. The 60 year old spirit was selected from whisky blends casted the same year that Queen Elizabeth acceded to the throne. It fetches for a hefty £100,000 a bottle due to its ultra-rare blend and the craftsmanship of its traveling case and decanter.

Get the deets on this exquisite spirit inside.

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The result is a blend not just of whiskies – all distilled in 1952, the year Queen Elizabeth acceded to the throne – but of a host of different crafts. The crystal diamond-shaped decanter is from Baccarat, its silver collar and stopper has been hand-crafted by Hamilton & Inches in Edinburgh and it resides inside a cabinet which has been made with wood from two of the Queen’s estates: oak from Sandringham and pine from Balmoral. There are two hand-etched Cumbrian crystal glasses and the presentation is completed with a white leather hand-bound book personalized by the Queen’s calligrapher (and former QEST scholar), Sally Mangum.

“The brief was a blank sheet,” says [master blender Jim] Beveridge prior to the tasting. “but there had to be some connection with 60 years, so we looked to see what whiskies we had from 1952. Not surprisingly, there were only a handful and we even rejected some, as they were too woody.” After vatting the components together, the blend was rested in two small marrying casks, made by Diageo’s apprentice coopers under the watchful guidance of master cooper David Taylor. “That marrying made a big difference,” says Beveridge, “because it allowed the key component to do its work.” That key element? “Old grain,” he explained. “It softened those crusty old malts and allowed new flavors to sing out.

SOURCE: Whisky Advocate Blog

I would love to know what a £100,000 buzz feels like ~vK