The Recently

Aston Martin and scotch distillery Bowmore just sold a special-edition bottle of their Arc-52 whiskey for a whopping $275,000. The luxury sports car company launched a collaboration with Bowmore back in 2019 and has been working together since to craft rare, limited-edition scotch whiskeys with bottles designed in the vein of a sleek Aston Martin car.

While some of the collaborative whiskey bottles are in the $700 to $1,000 range, the Arc-52 bottle, which launched last summer, was originally priced at a cool $75,000. The high-end scotch was aged 52 years before making its way into an Aston-designed, mid-century-modern-esque decanter. The scotch decanter was assembled with carbon fiber and a mokume-gane wood grain metal finish said to be inspired by the ancient rocks surrounding Bowmore's Islay distillery and Aston Martin's AMR Formula 1 racing car.

The opulent bottle was purchased by an anonymous buyer at a Sotheby's auction for $275,000 — nearly four times its original price tag and over $100,000 more expensive than the starting price for an Aston Martin sports car.

Although Sotheby's typically takes 10% of the hammer price during its auctions, proceeds from the Mokume edition Arc-52 are dedicated to The Bowmore Legacy — the scotch distillery's charity that funds employment training and affordable housing in Islay.

The exclusive scotch was distilled in part by Bowmore's Master Blender Ron Welsh who says Arc-52 is one of his final projects for the company, "By creating the unique Mokume edition, we can also fulfill our ambition to give back to our homeplace through the Bowmore Legacy," Welsh told Sotheby's. With only 100 bottles in existence, the amber-colored Mokume Arc-52 boasts a 42.3% ABV with a complex flavor profile marked by notes of apricot, green apple, orange zest, and guava, further complemented by aromas of smooth menthol, honey, licorice, and walnuts.

While you may never get your hands on this collector's edition scotch, Bowmore's 12-year aged, single-malt scotch whiskey is available to the average drinker for under $100.