Last Drop releases 55YO whisky for £6,600

Rare spirits bottler The Last Drop Distillers has launched its 2024 collection, which features a 55-year-old Scotch whisky.

The collection comprises three bottles, release no. 34, 35 and 36, with each having undergone a lengthy maturation period and celebrating ‘a different facet of the fine craft of spirit making’.

Release No 34 is a 40-year-old single malt Scotch from Lowland distillery Auchentoshan. The whisky was aged for four decades and only 74 bottles were produced. Last Drop Distillers said it has a ‘surprising sweetness’, and its notes include fruitcake, stewed apples, black cherry and a spicy oak aftertaste. It has a 44.8% ABV.

Release No. 35 is the ‘Infinitum Rum Blend’, a 22-year-old blend of various rums taken from around the world, covering Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Venezuela, Guadeloupe, Brazil and Fiji. The liquid was aged in an oak rum cask in a Liverpool warehouse for 22 years, and vatted during the first year of the new millennium.

Its profile is described as ‘oozing sweetness, with honeycomb, nutmeg, and allspice’. Seeing to a dry finish of white pepper and citrus, there are only 136 bottles of the rum available. It sits at 53.1% ABV.

Lastly, the third bottle of the collection, Release No. 36, is a 55-year-old single malt Scotch from Tomintoul Distillery in Speyside.

It is The Last Drop Distillers’ oldest single malt release to date and was aged for more than 53 years in six oak casks, first laid to rest when Tomintoul Distillery itself was less than five years old. For the final 20 months, the liquid was married into an amoroso Sherry butt cask.

Only 582 bottles are available and its notes bring dark fruits and raisins to the nose, spices and herbs on the tongue, and a long and lingering finish. It has a 41.8% ABV.

Rebecca Jago, managing director of The Last Drop Distillers, said: “We take great joy in sharing our discoveries and stories, and we are delighted to present The Last Drop’s 2024 collection of remarkable spirits.

“It has been a fascinating mission to curate these releases; each reveals a different element of what makes our business unique: the originality of the Auchentoshan process, the fortuitous result of the ‘infinity’ rum’ and the spirit of innovation within the Tomintoul release from the distillery’s early years.”

The 40 Year Old Auchentoshan Single Malt Scotch retails for £3,500 (US$4,382), the Infitinum Rum for £2,200 (US$2,754), and the the 55 Year Old Tomintoul Scotch Whisky for £6,600 (US$8,263).

The Last Drop Distillers was founded in 2008 by James Espey and the late Tom Jago. Its mission is to procure some of the finest, limited spirits.