Elite Traveler November-December 2015

DISCOVER

elite traveler NOV/DEC 2015 ISSUE 6 62

Head to… Cakebread Cellars Check out the new outdoor tasting room at this family-run California winery. Tastings on request. Try to get hold of the sought-after 2012 Dancing Bear Ranch, which scored 99 points from legend Robert Parker. cakebread.com

Food&drink

While the iron's hot

Now, it seems, is the time for investing in rare whisky. A record number of bottles went under the hammer in the UK during the first half of 2015. In total $7.1m of collectable whiskies were sold, up 34% from 2014. Leading rare whisky brands Brora and The Dalmore retained their positions as the top two ranked distilleries in the Rare Whisky 101 Apex 100 Index, but the biggest risers are Bowmore, which climbed from 18 to 5 and Glenfiddich, which climbed 16 places to 23. Meanwhile Balvenie tumbled 10 places from 3 to 13. Sales of single malt Scotch whisky also soared in the first half of this year, with 20,938 bottles sold on the open market, up 35% from the same period last year. However, one of the most surprising trends was the surge in sales of Japanese whisky brands. The value of whisky from the Karuizawa distillery, which closed in 2001, increased by 66 percent in the first half of 2015, and last year a Suntory whisky was named the best in the world in the 2015 World Whisky Bible. Andy Simpson, co-founder of brokers Rare Whisky 101, said: “The dearth of truly collectable releases over recent years has only fueled demand for older and discontinued past releases where quality and rarity are powerful motivations for purchase. We view this as a clear future trend, with the value of scarcity increasing demand.” For more on whisky collecting, turn to page 75.

Elite pick Ivan the Terrible

Petrossian caviar is now available to buy by the bucketload (well, in 10kg tins) in the US. Buyers who opt for the large Ivan the Terrible tins are invited to a tasting at the Petrossian headquarters in Paris, where Armen Petrossian (above) will help them select their favorite caviar. This is then hand-delivered in the tin to their home by private jet with white-glove service. Also look out for the smaller Catherine the Great (5kg) and Just Alexandre (2.5kg) tins. Ivan is between $90,000 and $350,000 depending on which caviar is selected, petrossian.fr

TAKE THREE/// BOOZY FESTIVE GIFTS

1 LOUIS ROEDERER CRISTAL GOLD CAGED JEROBOAM 2002 Presented in a hand-crafted metallic bottle that took two master goldsmiths four days to craft. It uses 22 ft of brass tape and is dipped in 24 karat gold, with 508 silver-weld points. Open it between now and 2032. $28,750, harrods.com

2 REMY MARTIN LOUIS XIII JEROBOAM (300CL) Presented in a special metal carafe, which is an exact replica of a carafe found on the site of the 1569 Battle of Jarnac, France. The fleur-de-lys symbol suggests it may have belonged to one of the royal houses that fought the battle. $37,000, thewhiskyexchange.com

3 PATRÓN EN LALIQUE: SERIE 1 Limited edition of 500 crystal Patrón decanters handmade by Lalique, with a bottle stopper representing the piña, the heart of the agave. The tequila is a blend of the oldest, rarest tequilas from Patrón’s barrel aging room at their Mexico distillery. $7,500, patrontequila.com

Words: Laura Powell