- Zhang Wei, 36, paid 9,999 Swiss francs for a single measure of whisky. He believed it was a single malt by The Macallan distillery from 1878. A carbon dating test now says it is a blended whisky from the 1970s. Wei got a full refund when the hotel realised.
A whisky enthusiast who spent £7,623 on a single measure of scotch, thinking it was extremely rare, actually wasted his money on a fake.
Zhang Wei, 36, paid 9,999 Swiss francs (£7,623 or $9,998) for one 20ml measure of what he believed was an 1878 Special Reserve from The Macallan distillery in Speyside, Scotland.
He had the drink during a high-end tasting session Waldhaus Hotel in St. Moritz, which is famous for its enormous selection of single malts. Business Insider reported on the purchase at the time.
However, scientific tests have sinced revealed that the alleged 139-year-old whisky was probably distilled in the 1970s.
According to the BBC, hotel staff sent the bottle away for testing after whisky experts raised doubts that the bottle could be authentic.
They sent a sample to Rare Whisky 101, a company in Dunfermline, Fife, who used carbon dating technology to discover that the whisky was almost certainly made in the early 1970s.
Furthermore, they found that it was a blended rather than a single malt, making it still less authentic. They declared the end result "almost worthless."
Bar manager Sandro Bernasconi said Zhang thanked him for his honesty.
In August, Bernasconi said he had never expected to sell the whisky, which had been in the bar as a collector's item since his father bought it in the 1990s.