STATEMENT AGED

As the dark clouds of war gathered above the Scottish horizon, George Urquhart and his father, John, poured whisky from the Glenlivet distillery into an American oak barrel that their company, the luxury grocers Gordon & MacPhail, had just shipped over from Spain. George, the “father of single malt” who many credit with predicting the segue from blends to single-estate whiskies, was preparing to join the Seaforth Highlanders in the war effort. The year was 1940. Whisky production, soon to halt, wouldn’t restart until 1945.

That the barrel survived the urgent postwar commercial demand is a minor miracle. This 80-year-old Glenlivet from Gordon & MacPhail, called Generations 2021, is not only the world’s oldest single-malt scotch ever released but also the only pre–World

War II whisky ever sold as a single collection.

So what’s a dram from a $112,000 bottle of scotch like? Contemplative, to say the least—an epiphany that develops over time. Breathe it in, don’t rush the experience; allow the dark amber juice to evolve and, over the next hour, you’ll notice the whisky metamorphose. Initial notes of marzipan and sweet Christmas cakes give way to orange peel and the faintest whiffs of leather and tobacco.

“It’s like reading a book that you love, that you want to keep turning the next page, because the next time you put your nose to the glass, you’re getting another world of flavors,” says Stephen Rankin, G&M’s director of prestige, via Zoom from his home in Elgin, Scotland. “Just like reading your favorite book, you want to get to the next chapter. What’s going to happen next?”