SUCCESS AT EXCESS
No question: The Oprah Winfreys, Richard Bransons and Scrooge McDucks of this world are living large. But do their indulgences — that $4,000 canine cologne or the $800 bottle of beer — live up to the hype? Viceland’s new series Most Expensivest packs its limited-edition Louis Vuitton suitcases for a trip into the culture of excess. Hosted by Grammy-winning rapper 2 Chainz, the new show debuts Wednesday. Melissa Hank takes a look at five shining examples of luxury.
1 $4,900 chicken wings At Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York City, three wings are covered in white and black truffles and a cream sauce infused with Rémy Martin Louis XIII Cognac, which costs $2,400 per bottle. Three more are topped with $1,600-per-ounce Royal Ossetra caviar, and three are saturated with $65-a-pound foie gras. Just for kicks, there’s also a $400-a-pound imported Japanese Kobe filet mignon “wing,” marinated in imported Japanese Tokubetsu Daiginjyou Kamutachi sake, which costs $1,100 per bottle.
2 $1,800 cigar Gurkha Cigars makes His Majesty’s Reserve (HMR) cigars that are infused with a bottle of Rémy Martin Louis XIII Cognac — the same $2,400-per-bottle liquor gussying up those $4,900 chicken wings, remember? Named among most expensive cigars in the world, HMR puffing sticks were made in 1996 with 15-yearold tobacco. Only 1,000 boxes were manufactured, so their worth rises as supply declines.
3 $100 doughnut Executive chef Björn DelaCruz of The Manila Social Club in New York City created the 24K Golden Cristal Ube Donut, which is filled with an ube mousse (ube is a purple sweet yam from the Philippines) and Cristal Champagne gelée. It’s then covered in a Cristal icing and dusted with 24K pure gold dust and handgilded with 24K pure gold leaf. All doughnuts are handmade by DelaCruz, who says they were meant to be a special gift for his loved ones.
4 $12,500-per-year club Considered the most exclusive club in the world, Core Club charges an initiation fee that ranges between $30,000 and $50,000. For that, its members in New York City enjoy what its website says is a curated experience blending art, current events, creativity and innovation. Translation: You get a gym, office, art gallery, screening room, barber shop, restaurant, bar, spa and terrace. Core Club has 1,300 members with an average net worth of $100 million each.
5 $20,000 exercise equipment Over in Core Club’s gym lurks one of the world’s most expensive pieces of exercise equipment. Miha Bodytec’s electronic muscle stimulation training system delivers a 20-minute workout that’s equivalent to two hours of working out. The trick? It uses electric currents to stimulate muscular contractions in combination with a series of simple exercises. The system costs a minimum of $20,000.