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5 rare whiskeys and cognacs to savour from Changi Airport’s new wine and spirits portal
The exquisite tipple line-up includes a Baccarat crystal basketball filled with cognac by Hennessy to celebrate the NBA’s 75th anniversary.
By Richard Ng /
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Photo: Moet Hennessy
The holiday season is right around the corner, and it is as good a time as any to begin stocking up on festive libations. The timing is opportune with Changi Airport Group’s World of Wines and Spirits (WOWS) pop-up online portal that is available till December 31.
Expect an array of over 200 bottles both premium, ultra-exclusive and well-regarded from over 75 brands. The icing on the cake: prices listed are tax and duty-free. Once you’ve selected your bottle — which includes rare selections made available in the region for the first time — on the e-catalogue, a shopping concierge will contact you directly to complete the transaction.
The WOWS portal, which is the airport’s most major foray into the rare spirits category, is launched in collaboration with Lotte Duty Free. The South Korean travel retailer took over as Changi Airport’s key liquor and tobacco operator from DFS Group in June 2020.
Apart from bottles meant to be savoured in good company, the WOWS showcase includes an online auction where two uber-rare bottles will be put under the hammer. The silent auction, accessible here, concludes on November 15, 23:59 hrs. The bids start from an eye-watering $130,000. The two spirits were specially showcased in standalone glass displays in the by-invite WOWS signature event last week, alongside a glittering line-up of other tipples, which also include champagne, sake and wines — some of them are exclusively retailed at Changi Airport.
We highlight some of the cognac and whiskey rarities from the luxury pop-up spirits portal.
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Distinguished cognac house Hennessy teams up with Paris-based jeweller and designer Lorenz Baumer to create a commemorative tipple in celebration of the 75th birthday of the world’s most recognisable basketball league, the NBA. The result is a basketball-shaped carafe hewn from Baccarat crystal and topped off with 1.75 litres of the incomparable Hennessy Paradis. Only 75 examples were created, and only one will be up for grabs.
Bidding begins at $225,000.
The second bottle up for auction is “designed to celebrate the transformative power of creativity between art and whiskey”. It features a 53-year-old blended scotch whiskey, housed within a mouth-blown glass decanter courtesy of UK-based Darlington Crystal. Each of the 21 bottles made worldwide are intricately engraved with feathers and hand-gilded in 24-carat gold leaf as an homage to British sculptor Kate MccGwire. Again, only one will be made available for bidding.
Bidding begins at $130,000.
This collaboration between two esteemed houses — one, Islay’s oldest distillery Bowmore, first established in 1779; and the other, distinguished British automakers Aston Martin, whose history dates back to 1913 — is an exceptional expression of legacy and craftsmanship. 52 refers in fact to a 52-year-aged single malt whisky (Bowmore’s oldest), married in equal parts from two cask styles, namely American Oak Hogshead and European Oak Butt. Out of 100 bottles produced worldwide, only one bottle will be retailed in the region here.
The Bowmore Arc-52 retails at $130,000.
Related: Meet the only Black Bowmore DB5 1964 bottle in Singapore
Also of Scottish origin is the first edition in a new run of single malts celebrating the artistry of The Macallan. The debut volume, which comes with a Lalique crystal decanter of 1950s whiskey hidden within, tells the story of Captain John Grant. The pioneer of the whiskey house was the first person to recognise the potential in the Easter Elchies estate, where the brand resides in to this day. The example on sale is one of 350 produced worldwide.
The Tales of The Macallan Volume 1: The Laird of Easter Elchies retails at $120,000.
This limited edition single pot still whiskey from Ireland is exclusive in every sense of the word: Midleton Distillery no longer exists, having bottled their last dram in 1975. That makes this bottle, just one of 97 worldwide, an exceedingly rare find indeed and deserving of space in the intrepid collector’s cellar.
The Midleton Very Rare Silent Distillery Chapter 3 retails at $63,000.
Additional reporting by Kenneth SZ Goh.
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