Whisky distillers mark Queen's Diamond Jubilee with £100,000 60-year-old malt.

A £100,000 60-year-old whisky is to go on sale to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Irar-Tass reports.
A total of 61 decanters of the blended malt and grain whisky were bottled at the Royal Lochnagar Distillery on the Balmoral Estate in Ballater, Aberdeenshire.

One will be gifted to the Queen and the others will be sold around the world for £100,000 each, with all profits from the sale going to the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (Qest), a charity which provides grants and training to craftspeople in the UK.

The whisky's creation was overseen by master blender Jim Beveridge at John Walker & Sons.

He said: "The whisky was first distilled in 1952 and there was a great deal of care and attention at that stage.

“It was then stored in our distilleries until about the beginning of last year when we started to think about what whiskies we would use in the project.

"We tested the whiskies and we felt it would be good to marry the blends in a special oak cask, and the process will be completed today when we decant the whisky into the glass."

Mr Beveridge, who has worked as a blender with John Walker & Sons for 30 years, said it was a "privilege to be involved in such a unique project".

He added: "It's a very special blend and all the craftsmen that have been involved in the creation of the project and all the things that surround the whisky are really very special as well."

Each crystal decanter is accompanied by two hand-engraved lead crystal glasses, enclosed in a wooden cabinet made from oak and pine from the Queen's Sandringham and Balmoral estates.

Some of the craftsmanship is the work of former Qest scholars.

Qest chairman Richard Watling said: "The creation of this beautiful work, a monument to the skills of its craftspeople and the definitive tribute to 60 years of Her Majesty's reign, is of enormous significance to Qest.

"Someone asked how we define craft, and I said: Look at the royal wedding and Westminster Abbey. Take out all the things that would not be there were there not a craftsman to do it, like the pews, the dresses and the uniforms, and you are left with nothing.

"Craft has a really important role in the culture and success of our country and someone has to make all these things that we all see and enjoy, and it's these people we aim to help."

The charity provides around 15 scholarships each year across the UK.

The price of the whisky means, however, that few people can enjoy it.

David Gates, who grants the Royal warrant for John Walker & Sons, said interest among buyers was high.

He said: "Apart from people who have a few spare pennies, the kind of people who will be interested in this will want to buy a piece of history. They will be getting something completely unique and very rare.

"We are talking to people all across the world, whisky lovers and people with an affection for the Royal Family. The level of interest has been quite extraordinary."

Smiling, he said: "As Royal Warrant holders, we are not allowed to talk about the supply or consumption of whisky in the Royal Family. But I think you can expect that our products are well received in the household."

Meanwhile, another whisky specialist is selling an £8,000 60-year-old single malt to mark the Queen's Jubilee.

Gordon & MacPhail in Elgin, Moray, has produced 85 bottles called Glen Grant 60 Years Old which were distilled on February 2 1952, four days before the Queen acceded to the throne.

It was bottled on February 2 this year, making it exactly 60 years old.

The limited-edition bottles each have a recommended UK retail price of £8,000.

The drink is described as having aromas of Cox's Pippins and Granny Smith apples, laced with cinnamon and root ginger. It comes in a pyramid-shaped crystal decanter with a diamond-shaped stopper.

The decanter comes in a hand-made box made of elm wood, felled a short distance from Holyrood House, the Queen's official residence in Scotland.