Best of Budapest & Hungary

A nearly 200-year-old bottled rarity arrives at the Michelin-plate recommended restaurant Avalon Park in Miskolctapolca, NE Hungary. The auction of 40 bottles of Scotch whisky, dubbed the oldest in the world and discovered by accident, ended on December 5. Avalon Ristorante won bottle number 8 in the auction - for a record GBP 18,000, the equivalent of more than HUF 8 million.

    This is a whisky worthy of a trip back in time, as the winning Scotch is one of 40 found behind a cellar door at the 750-year-old Blair Castle in Pertshire at the end of 2022. When the bottles were discovered, a plaque was found next to them, marking them as 'small still' whiskies with a distillation year of 1833, a bottling date of 1841 and a re-bottling date of 1932. If the dates are correct, it means that the bottles contain the oldest known (by vintage) Scotch whisky.

    Some of the bottles will be on display to Blair Castle's onlookers, showcasing the heritage of the place and its links to the Scotch whisky industry. However, 24 bottles were to be made available to a wider audience of whisky lovers, and as part of this, these particular 24 bottles have found an owner through an exclusive auction. The auction closed at dawn on December 5, with bottle number 8 going to the Michelin-recommended restaurant of the Avalon Resort & SPA.