Who knew getting drunk could be so expensive?! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most outlandishly-priced bottles of alcohol.
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00:00This bottle was never purchased with an idea of investment in mind, although it is clearly an investment.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most outlandishly priced bottles of alcohol.
00:13And one of the first things you'll notice there is this beautiful mahogany gold color.
00:20Number 20. Penfolds & Pool
00:30In 2012, Australian wine producer Penfolds released a limited edition & Pool
00:35quote, to celebrate the provenance of truly extraordinary wine. Only 12 handmade bottles
00:41were produced, and each came with their own certificate of ownership and authenticity.
00:46But of these 12, only 11 were sold, with one going to Penfolds Museum. And should you decide
00:52to actually open the bottle, you could contact Penfolds and they would send an employee to host
00:57a special opening ceremony just for you. As you can imagine, this type of pomp and circumstance
01:03doesn't come cheap. Each bottle sells for $168,000 Australian, or about $110,000 USD.
01:19Number 19. Chateau d'Yquem, 1811
01:23Hailing from the Sauternes region of France, Chateau d'Yquem is a highly esteemed wine known
01:35for its high acidity and incredible sweetness. The wine is also praised for its longevity,
01:40with some bottles keeping for well over a century. This brings us to Chateau d'Yquem,
01:451811, which many wine experts consider to be a masterpiece.
01:54In July 2011, a connoisseur named Christian Van Eyck purchased a bottle of 1811 for $117,000,
02:11making it the most expensive bottle of white wine ever purchased. Van Eyck planned to place the
02:16bottle behind bulletproof glass and put it on display at his Bali restaurant, S.I.P. Sunset
02:23Grill. Number 18. Louis V. VIII, Black Pearl Anniversary Edition
02:36Remy Martin wished to celebrate the 140th birthday of their cognac, and to do so they
02:42made the Black Pearl Anniversary Edition, and it came with quite the hefty price tag of $165,000.
02:50Many different things went into the exorbitant price. There was the gorgeous metal decanter,
02:55each of which was individually numbered and made via a complex process.
03:05There's the rarity, with fewer than 800 decanters being produced. And finally,
03:11there's the quality of the cognac ingredients, some of which were aged over 100 years.
03:16The results were a beautiful piece of art, but a very expensive one.
03:27Number 17. Beaumort 1957
03:30I've been fortunate in my career to get a great insight to the three elements that
03:37are needed to create really good whiskeys.
03:40The Beaumort Distillery is one of the oldest in Scotland,
03:44having opened on the island of Islay in the late 18th century. In 2011, the company finally
03:50cracked into some oak casks that had been sealed for more than half a century, resulting in Beaumort
03:561957. This is the oldest Islay single malt whiskey ever produced, and only 12 bottles were
04:03made. Two were placed in the Beaumort archives, and ten were sold through the Beaumort Distillery
04:08on Islay. One of these bottles was eventually purchased by an anonymous American for £100,000,
04:16or roughly $160,000 at the time of purchase.
04:26Number 16. Nun's Island Whiskey
04:34Once found in Galway, Ireland, Nun's Island Distillery was an important local employer,
04:40and their single pot still whiskey was sold mainly in the Irish province of Connacht.
04:46That said, it was also exported to various locations, and found fame when it was sold
04:51to the British House of Commons. Unfortunately, the company faced financial hardships in the
04:55early 20th century, and the factory was closed in 1908. In 2005, the last surviving bottle of
05:02Nun's Island emerged at auction for €146,000, or about $160,000. What can we say? You have to pay
05:12for history. Number 15. Diamond Jubilee
05:16It really is an extraordinary whiskey, made with extraordinary care and real craftsmanship.
05:22Everyone knows Johnny Walker. Their booze is everywhere, and it's currently the world's
05:26highest-selling scotch whiskey. We say this to make a point. Johnny Walker is affordable and
05:31it sells, but they broke from tradition when they made Diamond Jubilee. Produced in 2012,
05:36it was made to honor the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's coronation. The first decanter will
05:42be a gift for the Queen, followed by 60 other additions to be sold by John Walker and Sons
05:47for £100,000 each. The ingredients themselves were distilled back in 1952, and the whiskey was
05:54bottled in a Baccarat crystal decanter capped with a half-carat diamond. Unfortunately, not just
06:00anyone could celebrate with Johnny Walker, as each bottle of their Diamond Jubilee goes for
06:04about $200,000. The making of Diamond Jubilee has thrown a spotlight on traditional craftsmanship
06:11and excellence. Number 14. Revelation by Kareem Rashid
06:15Ah, amazing. Described by Time as the, quote,
06:19most famous industrial designer in all the Americas, Kareem Rashid collaborated with
06:24Bombay to create Revelation. Rashid worked alongside Gerard and Baccarat to make fancy
06:30bottles of Bombay sapphire. According to the company, these are, quote,
06:34handmade crystal bottles individually decorated with sapphires and diamonds. But unlike the
06:40traditional look, these specific bottles are shaped like giant blue gemstones. As you can
06:45imagine, handcrafted crystal bottles from Kareem Rashid, Gerard, and Baccarat do not come cheap.
06:53Each piece comes with an exorbitant price tag of $200,000, a status symbol if we've ever seen one.
07:00So depending on the form of an object depends on the kind of energy that it's going to project
07:05to a person. Number 13. Dalmore 62
07:08It is indeed a tribute to those who have crafted a single malt over the last 180 years.
07:16The small Scottish town of Almas hosts the Dalmore Distillery, which opened back in 1839
07:23and sources the local Averon River for its single malt whiskey. In 2011, Dalmore made history when
07:30it sold the world's most expensive bottle of scotch. In 2011, a bottle of Dalmore 62 sold
07:36for 125,000 pounds, or about $160,000. This was a very special and important occasion,
07:45as only 12 bottles of Dalmore 62 were ever produced. Today, these limited edition bottles
07:50are valued at well over $200,000, an example of the financial importance of supply and demand at work.
07:58Number 12. Armand de Brignac Midas 30-Litre
08:03If you want to party like Jay-Z, you're gonna need one of these giant champagne bottles and
08:08an even bigger wad of cash. The rapper bought Armand de Brignac in 2014, which has significantly
08:15increased demand for the brand. While their gold-painted 30-litre bottles retail for a mere
08:21$65,000, the venue price has run all the way up to $265,000. The champagne has been aged for roughly
08:29three decades, and there's obviously more than enough to go around. If you don't want to go too
08:34over the top, a regular Armand de Brignac champagne bottle will cost only about $300.
08:40If you think you can handle it, though, this 100-pound bottle possesses the Midas touch.
08:46Number 11. Royal Salute Tribute to Honour
08:49Tribute to Honour gets its name from the Honours of Scotland,
08:53the British Isles' oldest surviving crown jewels. You can tell from the bottle alone that this
08:58blended scotch whiskey, which retails for around $400,000, is fit for royalty.
09:04Designed by Stephen Webster of Gerrard, the bottle comes complete with 413 black and white diamonds
09:10and three emblems that symbolize the Scottish crown jewels. It's what's on the inside that
09:16makes Royal Salute the stuff of legend, however. The whiskeys in question come from the Royal
09:20Salute vault and have been aged for no less than 45 years. With only 21 bottles originally produced,
09:28this is among the rarest bottles on the planet. Just one sip will leave you feeling like a king
09:33or queen. Number 10. 1945 Romani Canti Wine
09:391945 marked the end of an era for Romani Canti, as this would be the last year before the historic
09:45vineyard was totally uprooted. With the harvest dwindling down to 2.5 hectoliters per hectare,
09:51just 600 bottles were produced from their pre-phylloxeric vines. Their 1945 vintage has
09:57been nicknamed Unicorn Wine since it's harder to track down than a mystical creature. And if you do
10:02find a bottle, be prepared to fork over somewhere around half a million dollars. In 2018, an
10:08anonymous bidder offered $558,000 for the 750ml bottle of Burgundy. This was reportedly the most
10:16anyone has ever paid for a bottle of wine at auction. Another bottle was purchased for $496,000,
10:23which is the second highest wine bid ever. Number 9. Macallan 64-Year-Old in La Ligue
10:30Macallan is known for delivering top-tier single malt whiskey, but they outdid themselves with
10:35this elite scotch. When a bottle is made with the intent of breaking records, you can expect to pay
10:40a pretty penny. More specifically, you can expect to pay no less than $460,000. That's what a bottle
10:48sold for at auction in 2010, making it the world's most expensive whiskey. It's a jaw-dropping price
10:55tag, but other sources have priced a bottle at $625,000. Even without the 64-year-old whiskey
11:02inside, the hand-cut crystal bottle weighs 25 pounds. If you can't afford to buy one of the
11:08four bottles that were made, keep in mind that one entrepreneur paid $64,000 for a single shot.
11:14We guess that's more economical? Number 8. Mendy's Coconut Brandy VS.
11:20Welcome to the Seven Figures Club. This clear brandy was made from Barassus flower and aged
11:26in Jamila wood casks for two years. As sweet as Mendy's Coconut Brandy may be, $1 million sounds
11:33like a steep price. That is, until you consider what came with the bottle when it was first
11:37released in 2007. Originally, purchases included a seven-day trip to the Maldives and a tour of
11:44the house of Mendy's. W.M. Mendy's himself would also sign, date, and number the bottle. So
11:50basically, it was more like buying a luxury vacation and the bottle was just a fancy souvenir.
11:55Since the Mendy's website is no longer operating, though, it seems like the trip
11:59is no longer part of the package. Number 7. Diva Premium Vodka.
12:05The bottle for this Scottish vodka is made of glass with a wand of colored crystals running
12:10down the center. While the bottle itself is something of a collector's item, it's just one
12:14of the reasons why Diva Vodka is reportedly priced at up to $1 million, depending on your gems of
12:20choice. Distilling the spirit is a three-step process. To begin, it's filtered through ice and
12:26Nordic birch charcoal, which doesn't sound especially extravagant. For the third step,
12:30however, the product is filtered through sand comprised of precious and semi-precious gemstones.
12:37If you're going to live like a diva, you might as well go all out and drink like one too.
12:42Number 6. Russo-Baltic Vodka. Russo-Baltic is a Russian company that started out manufacturing
12:49automobiles and aircrafts, and this history is represented in the design of their vodka bottles,
12:54which takes inspiration from luxury cars. Priced at $1.34 million, the top of every
13:01bottle is made from pure gold and decked out with diamonds. Russo-Baltic vodka is primarily
13:11marketed to Russian billionaires, and was even prominently featured in Season 3 of House of
13:17Cards. In 2018, a bottle was stolen by a masked man from Café 33 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Whoever
13:24was behind the theft were willing to wager that he didn't have a million or so dollars lying around.
13:29Or hey, maybe he was just thirsty. Number 5. Dictator M-City Golden Cities.
13:35Colombian rum maker Dictator is world-renowned, and has won many prestigious accolades,
13:41including a gold medal at the World Spirit Awards. The company did something fun with
13:45their M-City Golden Cities series, which unfortunately for us lowly civilians,
13:50was invite only. Those who were invited to the Colombian distillery received a 24-karat gold
13:55bottle, which was engraved with the map of a city of their choosing. To make the experience
14:00complete, the guests helped select an exclusive and personalized blend of rum. Each of these
14:06bottles went for approximately $1.5 million. But hey, the experience was certainly worth it.
14:12We, I think, are very, very beguiling, and I think we will deserve our place in the canon
14:18of truly great, investment-grade spirits in the years to come.
14:22Number 4. Henri IV Du Donjon Heritage Cognac Grande Champagne.
14:28This cognac was named after King Henri IV, and it's evident from the bottle's design that it
14:34was made with royalty in mind. After being submerged in 24-karat gold and platinum,
14:39the bottle is encrusted with 6,500 diamonds. As for the actual spirit, it was originally
14:45produced in 1776 and aged for over 100 years in oak barrels. Also known as DNA of all cognac,
14:53this bottle is most definitely at the top of its class. With a price of a whopping $2 million,
14:59you'd be hard-pressed to find a more expensive bottle of cognac.
15:03Number 3. Tequila Lay .925 Passion Azteca.
15:08It shouldn't come as a surprise that Henri IV Du Donjon Heritage and Passion Azteca have someone
15:14in common, Fernando Altamirano, the CEO of distilling company Tequila Lay. Altamirano
15:20has been behind an assortment of ambitious spirits, but ultra-premium Passion Azteca
15:26stands out as the most expensive tequila in the world, with their unique bottle,
15:30Lay Diamante, at $3.5 million. The platinum bottle, which features an engraving from Mexican
15:37artist Alejandro Gomez Oropesa, is decorated with 4,100 shimmering diamonds. The tequila
15:44inside was made from 100% agave and aged for seven years.
15:50Number 2. Billionaire Vodka. As if the name didn't already say it all,
15:55the motto for this vodka is, it's good to be the king. Honestly, if you're a multi-billionaire,
16:00$3.7 million is probably pocket change. For the rest of us, we'll just have to settle for
16:06admiring billionaire vodka from afar. Designed by Leon Veres, the five-liter bottle comprised
16:11of 3,000 diamonds and Swarovski crystals is truly a sight to behold, yet only the wealthiest
16:18drinkers can tell you what it tastes like. Billionaire Vodka is a handmade concoction
16:22derived from a secret Russian recipe, which is said to consist of pure wheat, crystal-clear
16:28water, and diamonds. You haven't hit it big until you've ordered a bottle of this at a nightclub.
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16:50Number 1. De Malfi Limoncello Supreme.
16:54From the production and the choice of the best suited glass,
16:57to the original and innovative packaging with good value.
17:01At what point do alcohol prices go from tantalizingly expensive to just ridiculous?
17:07That's the question at the heart of De Malfi Limoncello Supreme. Limoncello is a very popular
17:12lemon liqueur from Italy, and this one made by De Malfi is the most expensive alcohol in the world.
17:19Only two, yes two, bottles were ever made. One went to a private citizen who personally
17:25commissioned the sale, and the other can be purchased for the low, low price of $44 million.
17:32That price is largely attributed to the bottle, which is adorned by four separate diamonds,
17:37totaling 31.5 carats. What's the most you would splurge on a bottle of booze?
17:44Let us know in the comments. Did you enjoy this video? Check out
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