The Glenlivet Winchester Collection Vintage 1966 Auction at Mantra Bar Bangsar Village 2

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Headed over to Mantra Bar at Bangsar Village 2 on 25 May 2017 for the auction of Bottle No. 10 of The Glenlivet Winchester Collection Vintage 1966. Bidding for this collector’s item started at 10.00am earlier that day and came to a close at 10:09pm on the same day, clocking in a total of 28 total bids. The previous record in Malaysia was held by Bottle No. 3 of The Glenlivet Winchester Collection Vintage 1964 at a sale price of RM96,000.

The auction was initially scheduled to end at 10pm sharp, however it was taken offline and extended as a live auction by 9 minutes due to a last minute intense showdown between two bidders vying for the bottle. The winner was a Guardian of The Glenlivet who declined to be named (I wouldn’t want people knowing that I have such an expensive bottle of whisky in my house either) took home bottle no.10 of only 100 bottles to exist of this rare 50-year-old whisky with his winning bid at 10:09:39pm with the figure of RM116,000.

Besides going home with his prize, the winner will also enjoy a trip for two to Scotland, which includes money-can’t-buy private tours and tastings at The Glenlivet distillery.

“It has been an incredible journey for The Glenlivet in Malaysia and tonight shows us that The Glenlivet Guardians are one of our biggest assets for the growth of both the brand and for whisky appreciation in the country”, says Darren Hosie, Regional Brand Ambassador and Mentoring Manager of Chivas Brothers.

In addition to the main auction, another lucky winner, Guardian Victor Liew went home with a bottle of The Glenlivet 25 Year Old XXV worth RM3,000 as a prize for correctly guessing the winning bid of the Vintage 1966. Victor is a Group Agency Leader Wealth Advisor at Manulife and was one of the pioneering Guardians when The Malaysian Chapter of The Glenlivet Guardians began in 2013.

Four lucky fans of The Glenlivet on Facebook who correctly guessed the final bid price each won a bottle of The Glenlivet 15 Year Old, worth RM550. Sadly my guess missed the final bid by RM5,000. No luck this time.

We got to enjoy whiskies from The Glenlivet, from the Classics range which includes the Founder’s Reserve, 12 Year Old, 15 Year Old, and 18 Year Old, along with the Master Distiller’s Reserve range, and the precious The Glenlivet 25 Year Old XXV. The event also featured partners Kapiti, Beans Depot and Borneo Harvest that hosted events of the Malaysian Chapter of The Glenlivet Guardians journey previously. Somewhat amazingly, I missed all three (3) of those events so I was quite pleased to be able to savour the whisky with the ice cream from Kapiti, coffees from BEans Depot and smoked salmon from Borneo Harvest!

The Vintage 1966 is the second release in the Winchester Collection, a series of rare 50-Year-Old Scotch whiskies from the single malt that started it all. It is the pinnacle of craftsmanship with every element – from the single malt itself to the bottle it is housed in – being the result of painstaking artistry by celebrated craftspeople from the British Isles.

The Vintage 1966 was aged entirely in a used sherry cask as opposed to a Bourbon hogshead cask that was used for the Vintage 1964. The resulting single malt is a remarkable liquid that layers the soft smooth notes of The Glenlivet with delicate spice – a teasing intermingling of cinnamon and liquorice – and offers an exceptionally long, smooth finish, with a pleasing hint of dryness.

The Vintage 1966 joins the Vintage 1964 to become one of the most sought after and exquisite whisky collections in the world.  Global pricing of The Glenlivet Winchester Collection Vintage 1966 stands at approximately USD 25,000.

The Glenlivet Guardians are a global community of people who share the same love for whiskies from The Glenlivet, the single malt that started it all. The Malaysian chapter was formed through a series of “taste and discover” events, and is arguably the largest whisky community in Malaysia with over 1000 members.

 

 

For more information about The Glenlivet Winchester Collection Vintage 1966, as well as the Guardians of The Glenlivet programme, head over to http://www.theglenlivetguardians.com

Photo credits: Pernod Ricard Malaysia and author’s own