A $380,000 whisky on the plastic - now that takes a lot of bottle

A Hong Kong man has bought one of the six bottles of the world's most expensive single malt whisky recently put on sale at Chek Lap Kok airport.

He paid for the $380,000 bottle last week with a credit card and took his precious purchase with him, without security escorts or ceremony. A salesman simply put the expensive malt into a blue-and-burgundy canvas duty-free bag.

Initially sceptical, the man produced a privileged American Express Centurion card after a 20-minute pitch by a member of the shop's sales staff.

Simon Au, director for merchandising and buying for the shop's owner, Sky Connections, said: 'It's unbelievable. It just shows how far Hong Kong's economic recovery has come and it just goes to show that the good days are back.'

The company imported the six bottles of the 64-year-old Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937 in February to help promote the airport's shops. The $380,000 price per bottle translates roughly to $13,500 a glass.

They were the last six bottles of the oldest single malt whisky in the world. Released in 2001, only 61 bottles were produced from a single cask. Only two have ever been opened, and each are individually numbered with handwritten labels signed by the great, great grandson of the distillery's founder.