A whisky lover in Double Bay, New South Wales has bought a rather expensive bottle of liquor, highlighting the growing market for high-end whisky. The super-rare The Macallan 72 Years Old in Lalique cost the buyer a staggering $150,000 – the most expensive single bottle of spirits ever sold at Dan Murphy’s in Double Bay.

“The buyer is a local whisky enthusiast who has been collecting special bottles for some time,” said James Duvnjak, Dan Murphy’s dark spirits category manager. “He was beyond excited to get his hands on this very rare bottle.”

There was only one single bottle available for retail in Australia. In fact, only 600 bottles of The Macallan 72 Years Old in Lalique were ever made. This particular whisky is the oldest single malt to be released by the Scottish distillery and, as the name implies, the spirit has been aged in barrels for 72 years.

“We had the bottle on display in the Dan Murphy’s Double Bay store in November and then in Dan Murphy’s Prahran Cellar in Melbourne,” Mr Duvnjak said. “Whisky lovers from all over the country travelled to the stores to admire and take photos of the rare bottle in its custom-made display case.”

In fact, there were so many interested buyers of The Macallan 72 Years Old in Lalique that Dan Murphy’s had to host a ballot to decide who the lucky purchaser of the $150,000 bottle would be. Over 50 whisky enthusiasts expressed their interest, but it was one Double Bay customer who had the luck of the draw.

The Macallan 72 Years Old in Lalique. Image supplied

According to insights from Dan Murphy’s, the ‘Super Premium’ whisky category (with prices starting from over $10,000 per bottle) has been growing in the double digits in the last three years.

For discerning whisky lovers who missed out on The Macallan, the Dan Murphy’s Double Bay store also has a Glenfiddich First Edition 50 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky available for $48,000, or a Royal Salute The Age Collection Blended Scotch Whisky, a limited collection that celebrates Queen Elizabeth II, for a cool $56,000.

And for Melbourne whisky lovers, Dan Murphy’s Prahran Cellar is playing host to a bottle of Gordon & Macphail Mortlach 75 Year Old Scotch Whisky for $60,000 amongst other ‘Super Premium’ spirits.

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