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Tourist Pays Over £7,000 For A Single Shot Of Whisky At Swiss Hotel

Tourist Pays Over £7,000 For A Single Shot Of Whisky At Swiss Hotel

A fiver for a pint is bad enough, but how about £7,810 for a single shot of whisky?

Will Fitzpatrick

Will Fitzpatrick

If you've ever found yourself at a bar, widening your eyes in disbelief and muttering "you're having a fucking laugh, aren't you?" as you hand over six quid for your pint, it would probably be a good idea not to plan a night out with this guy any time soon.

A fiver for a pint is bad enough, but how about £7,810 for a single shot of whisky? Ludicrous or what? But that's exactly what one Chinese tourist paid to get his hands on a glass of 139-year-old scotch at a swanky hotel in Switzerland.

Credit: Sandro Bernasconi

Zhang Wei, China's highest-paid online novelist, parted with 9,999 Swiss francs (£7,810 or $10,330) on a single 20ml measure of 1878 Special Reserve from The Macallan distillery in Speyside, Scotland.

The jaw-dropping exchange took place at the Waldhaus Hotel in St. Moritz, which is well known for its sprawling selection of whiskies. The hotel's Devil's Place whisky bar has more than 2,500 varieties in its collection and up until it was opened for this big spender, the Macallan was by far the most expensive.

Credit: Sandro Bernasconi

However, in spite of the extravagance of his purchase, the whisky enthusiast was surprised to see himself topping search engines in news stories.

"Drank some whisky and am at the top of a search engine - very surprised," wrote Zhang on his Weibo account after news got out of his eyebrow-raising purchase.

"I was in Switzerland and saw a 100-year-old whisky. I didn't spend long weighing up whether to get it," he continued. "In a nutshell, it tasted good. I was drinking not so much the whisky but a lot of history.

Credit: Sandro Bernasconi

"My friends all know that I love to drink."

Speaking to Business Insider, Sandro Bernasconi, who manages the Devil's Place, told of how he came to open his bar's most treasured bottle.

"He asked once, and I explained that we do not normally sell it because the problem is if you open the bottle then it loses the collection value," he said.

"Half an hour later he came again and asked if he could try that one anyway. We waited more than 20 years for someone like him and I figured we should take the chance - it's not every day."

He continued: "He said it was very good. I tried a little bit to make a cheers with him."

Ridiculous stuff to say the absolute least, but if you've got the money and are a whisky connoisseur then go for it...I suppose.

Featured Image Credit: Sandro Bernasconi

Topics: Alcohol