Cheers! Castle worker finds world’s oldest dram – once enjoyed by Queen Victoria – in cellars of historic Scots castle
Cheers! Castle worker finds world’s oldest dram – once enjoyed by Queen Victoria – in cellars of historic Scottish castle
- 40 bottles of the drink, barreled in 1833, were discovered in the depths of Blair Castle, Perthshire
It was already a century old when it was hidden more than ninety years ago.
Now forty bottles of the oldest whiskey in the world have been found during a clearing of the cellars of a castle.
The whisky, which Queen Victoria once enjoyed, was found in a hidden room in Blair Castle, Perthshire.
Trustee Bertie Troughton unearthed the treasure trove when he moved an old door wedged against an opening to reveal the forgotten cellar.
He discovered the bottles covered in dust and cobwebs with a plaque on a shelf stating that they were ‘barrel-aged 1833, bottled 1841 and re-bottled 1932’, making it ‘the oldest whiskey in the world’.
The 190-year-old whiskey was found in bottles next to a plaque dating it at Blair Castle
Blair Castle manager Bertie Troughton discovered the whiskey by chance
Young Queen Victoria enjoyed a taste of the whiskey during a visit to Blair Castle
Now 24 bottles will be sold in an online auction in November, with each copy expected to fetch £10,000.
But Joe Wilson, spirits specialist at Whiskey Auctioneer, said: ‘It’s difficult to put value on a whiskey of this vintage.
‘It’s literally history in a bottle.
“It’s unlikely we’ll ever see anything like it again.”
The remaining bottles will be part of an exhibition for visitors at the castle.
Mr Troughton said: ‘They just look so magical with all the dust and history pouring out of them.’