Will it be opened?

@PeterG7, the way I look at it, if you have the money to pay for it, then you have the money to drink it! As for keeping it around for a long while as a conversation piece for your friends to admire, well, I say, if you have that much money to spend, just drink it down and buy another million-dollar bottle.

@Victor If I had that kind of money, I’d probably drink it with my closest friends and then prank my other friends by secretly filling the million dollar bottle with JW Red or maybe Lambertus and serving it to them, just to see their reaction...Maybe I’m cruel.

...and, as @Dramlette just commented to me, that bottle is not really yours until you have imbibed from it. It is just still juice in the bottle separated from you by glass and cork until you have become one with it.

@Victor I totally agree with you. If you have the money to afford the bottle then by all means drink it. I'd like to open mine, however, if I'm to do that I want to share it with others who share an appreciation of whisky. Sort of loses its appeal if I drink it alone. Can you picture the merits of commenting on a whisky if you're having a conversation with yourself

@OdysseusUnbound You'd probably get away with a substitution. They'd be swayed by the vintage, you could probably put tea in it and get away with it

@PeterG7, yes, of course, sharing the experience with others is of supreme value. I would be sharing the bottle with friends too.

My sister has a large whisky collection which she never touches unless she is entertaining. She prefers to drink wine or various cocktails when home alone. She sees whisk(e)y primarily as a social pleasure and an easy tool to use for entertaining. The great thing for me is that I know that when I stop by her house that she will still have the bottles that I like which I remember her having the last time I stopped by.

@Victor When you stop by do you get a glass of wine or a whisky? My sister as lovable as she is gives me two choices. Beer or wine. She does like a martini (I don't) and somehow manages to get me to make it for her. I'm not a fan of beer or wine so I solve the problem by bringing my own whisky.

@Victor: "It is just still juice in the bottle separated from you by glass and cork until you have become one with it."

Yes! I love that.

Reminds me of the old cliche, you are what you eat. I tell my little girls all the time that you're made out of the stuff you eat, so you better eat good stuff.

I am made of Islay single malt.

And I suppose it'd be cool to be made out of million-dollar Macallan too.

In a word - no. I doubt it will be opened; at least not by the present buyer.

I have no idea who or why but one gets the sense it's a buy 'for show' so opening only stops the show. I'd laugh (with schadenfreude) if a friend or family member (think teenage son(s)) one day get a hold of it and neck it as shots at a house party . . .

I agree with @Dramlette /@victor's Jedi-esque wisdom that you only 'own' a whisky once you're drinking it. If I had a million spare I'd be buying to drink - at least one day.

@PeterG7, oh it is whisk(e)y I am drinking at my sister's house! There was a time when she used to say "I hate Scotch!", but that time was long ago now, and she has a great collection of Scotch, American, Irish, and Canadian whisk(e)y. I've had some excellent wine, but wine rarely excites me. Similarly I like beer, but it rarely excites me, except for the promise of cold liquid relief on a hot day. When my wife and sister break out some new cocktails I do politely always sample them but only occasionally indulge in using up a liquor ration on the consumption of a whole cocktail. Some of those cocktails are quite delicious.

@MadSingleMalt, knowing that you like a good turn of phrase I thought of you and smiled to myself as I composed those words! Thank you for the affirmation. Yes, I suppose that by now you are made of Islay malt.

Maybe not the funniest Whisky Sponge I've ever read, but topical:

whiskysponge.com/2018/10/…

And I"ll tag @OdysseusUnbound just 'cause I think he enjoys passing digs at Jim Murray.

@MadSingleMalt

Taking digs at Jim Murray, and those who like to refer to him (appeal to authority) is always fun. HA!

This is an interesting question and the answer partly depends on where you are in the whisky journey.

I was an idiot in 2010 when I opened a bottle of Macallan 25. My rationale? My uncle likes Macallan. But he puts ice in his whisky. Do I regret it? I love my uncle and I'll give him my best and rarest whisky if he wants it no matter how he'll drink it. But I personally was not ready, even in 2011 when I shared most of the rest with friends, to appreciate the nuances of fine spirits.

If I had a bottle like that to open now, I would certainly be able to appreciate it more.

I have a few bottles gifted to me by my whisky mentor, who died before I really started appreciating the spirit. The problem with opening them is the sentimental value, remembering the value he placed on his collection. I would find it difficult to open those bottles. But I think I SHOULD. Next year will mark 10 years since his death. Maybe that would be a good time to open one in his honour.

As for my own purchases, I generally buy stuff I want to drink, and have accumulated too much due to FORO and FOMO. I expect most will be opened by me if I live long enough.

I don't want my children to have an emotional attachment to any of the bottles in my collection. I very much hope I leave enough of a legacy in other ways that they are simply bottles of good whisky.

They can either drink them or sell them, and the ones that are left will be rare as hens' teeth by the time I kick off (I hope).

So many of the bottles causing this type of frenzy may never be opened, which is funny because they could be absolute crap and it wouldn't matter.

I am curious about many of these spirits for the experience of trying historical styles and better understanding them, I doubt I would want to own such a bottle with the burden of knowing how much it is and how much each drop costs, when do you share it, who do you share it with, do you have it only on grand occasions or as a weeknight tipple? Imagine if that shit never lives up to your expectations, who needs all that anxiety.

@cricklewood I'm thinking money isn't an issue if they can afford to pay 1.1 million for a bottle of single malt.

@PeterG7, indeed those with the money to buy these kind of bottles, don't bat an eyelash at buying and consuming expensive bottles but I seriously doubt these bottles are being opened, they are more likely being used as investments, trophies and such.

Once you open a million dollar bottle it's instantly loses it's perceived value even if you sell it by the once, dram whatever, it won't increase in value, unlike if you flog it ever onwards to the next high bidder

@cricklewood Did you ever read a book called the "billionaire's Vinegar"? In 1985 a bottle of wine was auctioned off by Christie's of London for 156,000$. It was listed as a 1787 Chateau Lafite Bordeaux that was supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson. Lots of hype leading up to the auction. All the experts, including the auction house authenticated that it was indeed the real deal. Turned out it was a complete fake. It's a great read and really makes you think that sometimes what appears to be real isn't. I wonder how the successful bidder confirmed what he/she purchased was real.