To say that it was an indulgent purchase would be an understatement: A Chinese millionaire paid a record $10,050 for a shot of 1878 Macallan single malt scotch in July—except it turns out the alcohol was all of 40 years old.
Eyebrows were raised about the veracity of Zhang Wei's purchase after photos were posted online of Zhang posing with the bottle and the manager of the Waldhaus Am See hotel; the Swiss hotel's Devil's Place whisky bar has a 2,500-bottle collection. The prime condition of the vintage bottle, and the wording on the label didn't add up,saiddoubters.
They were right. The BBC reports a series of lab tests were performed and returned all-around negative results. University of Oxford researchers carbon dated the sample and say there's a 95% probability it was produced between 1970 and 1972.
