A whisky enthusiast spent £7,810 on a single shot of rare scotch, which had gone unopened for 139 years.
The unnamed Chinese tourist parted with 9,999 Swiss francs (£7,810 or $10,330) on a single 20ml measure of 1878 Special Reserve from The Macallan distillery in Speyside, Scotland.
He made the purchase last week at the Waldhaus Hotel in St. Moritz, which is famous for its enormous selection of malts.
The hotel’s Devil’s Place whisky bar has more than 2,500 varieties in its collection – and the unopened Macallan was until last week the most expensive thing on the menu.
Business Insider spoke to Sandro Bernasconi, who manages the Devil's Place, and tried a tiny sip of the super-expensive alcohol alongside his high-rolling guest.
BI: Did you ever expect anybody to actually order that whisky?
Sandro: No way, I never thought that someone would drink that.
BI: What can you tell us about the guy who ordered it?
SB: I just know it's a Chinese guy, he came to the whisky bar and he was very interested in different Macallans, he collects them.
He tried some different Macallans - we also have a special bottle for our hotel, we bought the whole cask. He started to drink that, and then also saw the whisky menu which has a lot of different types on it.
At the bottom is listed this 1878 whisky, with the price 9,999 francs, but it is also written that it is not usually for sale.
He asked once, and I explained that we do not normally sell it because the problem is if you open the bottle then it loses the collection value.
Half an hour later he came again and asked if he could try that one anyway. We waited more than 20 years for someone like him and I figured we should take the chance - it's not every day.
BI: Did he say how it tasted?
SB: He said it was very good! I tried a little bit to make a cheers with him.
It's a great fine whisky, if you know the type of modern Macallan, it's very similar, it's got the sherry notes. Because it's a very old bottle I worried that maybe the alcohol had diminished, but it was still very good, like a whisky.
Macallans are highly sought-after among collectors. Last year an anonymous Asian collector paid $990,000 at auction for a lot containing several different Macallan malts, setting a new record for a whisky sale.
A Macallan spokeswoman told Business Insider: "It's wonderful to see the lengths some people go to fulfil their personal passion for single malt, and The Macallan in particular."
[Note - the above interview was lightly edited for length and clarity]