How much would you spend on whiskey? (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

How much would you spend on whiskey?

ONE of the rarest bottles of whiskey in the world has gone on sale in Highworth - priced £100,000.

The contents of the bottle of Nun's Island Distillery Irish Malt Whiskey are believed to be more than 100 years old, and shop owner, Ken Thomas, who runs Arkwright's General Stores, in The Dormers in Highworth and its associated website is confident that the spirit, currently priced at £100,000 will be snapped up by an eager collector.

Mr Thomas said: "Since the bottle went up on the website we have had thousands of hits, with people wanting to have a look at the bottle.

"There are very few records of the distillery itself, as many Irish distilleries closed down in the early 1900s and so to have a bottle survive this long is very rare indeed."

In fact Mr Thomas had put a price tag of £20,000 on it, but after further investigation, and the realisation that it is probably the only bottle left from the Nuns Island Distillery, it is now priced at a staggering £100,000.

The bottle is being sold on behalf of one of Mr Thomas's customers who brought the bottle into the shop several years ago inside a plastic bag, saying it might be worth a lot of money.

Mr Thomas, who had been researching Irish distilleries, discovered that the Nun's Island Distillery located near Galway closed in 1915, but there were no records of its whiskey stocks.

It is understood the bottle, which been passed down through several generations, belonged to a man who was due to inherit the distillery, but at the time, he decided that his future was in racehorse training and he moved to Lambourn near Swindon to become a racehorse trainer.

But he kept one bottle from the distillery, which was passed on to a lady friend of his some decades ago when he died. Since then it was passed on again and inherited by Mr Thomas' customer who now wishes to sell it.

Mr Thomas believes the bottle to be one of the rarest bottles of malt in the world and it is now stored in a safe place and is handled as little as possible.

He is determined to find a good home for it.

"The cork and cap are still in place and the bottle is in good condition with the contents at the lower neck, and being a malt whiskey it should still taste rather good considering its age.

"Personally, I would think it would be a much stronger taste than whiskies that you can buy at the moment."

More details of the whiskey can be found on Mr Thomas' website www.whiskyandwines.com

Ultimate prices for ultimate beverages

It is believed the Nun's Island Distillery Whiskey may be a one of a kind, which could make it one of the most expensive bottles of whiskey ever.

The most expensive commercially available bottle of wine is the Chateau d'Yquem Sauternes which dates from 1787.

It costs from £31,000 to £35,000 per bottle, depending on the retailer. The Chateau d'Yquem is a golden-coloured table or dessert wine from the Bordeaux region in France and was favoured by Thomas Jefferson, who introduced it to George Washington.

But the most expensive meal ever was eaten on July 5, 2001 when six diners at Petrus in London spent a phenomenal £44,007 on one meal.

The bill consisted mainly of five bottles of wine as, once the bill had been added up, the £300 charge for food was taken off.

The most expensive bottle was a 1947 Chateau Petrus vintage claret worth £12,300 followed by the slightly cheaper 1945 Chateau Petrus at £11,600.

A 1900 Chateau d'Yquem dessert wine cost £9,200 and 1982 bottle of Montrachet was a snip at £1,400.