World’s ‘most expensive’ cocktail sells in Moscow

A Russian ice bar has sold what it claims is the “world’s most expensive cocktail” containing three real diamonds for US$50,000

Michel Lombardi, head chef at Reka Moscow, has sold what he claims is the ‘world’s most expensive cocktail’

At the opening of Moscow’s first ice terrace at the Reka Moscow restaurant, the cocktail – containing three 4-carat diamonds provided by the event’s jewellery sponsor, Crivelli, and Richard Hennessy Cognac – was purchased by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Melnikov.

The 120-msq ice bar, which was created using 20 tonnes of Siberian ice, features Hennessy VSOP as its house spirit and sells a range luxury cocktails using the Cognac brand.

Opened in the run-up to the Winter Olympics, the bar can seat up to 80 people.

Australian bartender Joel Heffernan last year created what the Guinness Book of World Records recognised as the world’s most expensive cocktail, called The Winston.

This cocktail, costing £8,200, consisted of 60ml of Cognac Croizet 1858 Cuvee Leonie – a bottle of which recently sold at auction for AUS$151,000 – Grand Marnier Quintessence, Chartreuse Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolonge, and a dash of Angostura Bitters.

Heffernan swiped the world record from renowned bartender Salvatore Calabrese and his Salvatore’s Legacy cocktail, costing £5,500 a glass.