Collectors line up for world's rarest liquors
Old and rare bottles of spirits sell for incredible prices, writes Robin Lynam
In July, in his bar at London's new Playboy Club, celebrated bartender and collector of rare spirits Salvatore Calabrese was about to make a Guinness World Records certified attempt to mix the world's most expensive cocktail.
In his recipe, Calabrese - who keeps a collection of old bottles valued at about £1 million (HK$12.4 million) at the bar - had included a 1788 Clos de Griffier Vieux Cognac from the cellar of the Paris restaurant La Tour d'Argent.
A friend and regular customer ordered a couple of glasses of the precious spirit - at £5,000 per measure - and while he and a friend consumed them, Calabrese left the bottle on their table.
When they rose, the customer knocked over the bottle, which shattered on the floor.
Calabrese was later quoted as saying: "We all just froze, then it sank in. I've been heartbroken - not because of the value of the bottle, but because it is a piece of history that has been lost."
The bottle, apparently because it had been opened, was uninsured, but it was probably the loss of the liquid history that hit him hardest.