Top 10 drinks world records

What is the most expensive cocktail ever made, and who made it? Which is the world’s most expensive wine and what is the world’s strongest beer? These and other questions are answered.

In 1951 Sir Hugh Beaver, then managing director of the Guinness brewery, asked the members of his shooting party: “What is Europe’s fastest game bird?” A heated argument followed and despite searching their host’s reference library the answer could not be found.

Sir Hugh decided then that creating a “definitive book containing superlative facts and answers would be of great use to the general public.” In 1955 the first Guinness Book of Records was published, and it has been hugely popular ever since.

Now called simply “Guinness World Records” people all over the world, do love the challenge of becoming a world record holder. World records are spread over all aspects of life and work and the drinks business is no different.

Here’s a look at 10 alcohol-related world records. Are you a Guinness World Record holder? Use the comments section below to tell us what you are the best in the world at.

The most expensive cocktail

World-renowned bartender Salvatore Calabrese created a £5,500-a-glass cocktail in October last year and set a new world record in the process. The cocktail, composed of 40ml of 1788 Clos de Griffier Vieux Cognac, 20ml of 1770 Kummel Liqueur, 20ml of 1860 Dubb Orange Curaçao and two dashes of Angostura Bitters from the 1900s, was bought by a friend and long term client of Calabrese.

The record attempt had been put on hold after a customer accidentally smashed a bottle of the 1788 Clos de Griffer Cognac three months earlier. That could go down as one of the most expensive bottle breakages ever. The previous record for the world’s most expensive cocktail was held by The Skyview Bar at the Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai, with a £3,766.52-a-glass tipple.

A new attempt at this record will take place in Melbourne on Thursday, 7 February when Australian mixologist Joel Heffernan will attempt to make The Winston cocktail, which carries a price tag of AU$12,500 (£8,200). The Winston, which takes 16 hours to prepare will contain Cognac Croizet 1858 Cuvee Leonie and a specially-prepared garnish of chocolate and nutmeg soil.

The world’s strongest beer

For many years Scottish brewers BrewDog were involved in a tit-for-tat exchange with German brewers Schorschbräu, trying to create the world’s strongest beer. Both of these brewers tried to out-do each other creating new and stronger beers.

BrewDog bowed out with a 55% abv brew, while Schorschbräu stopped at 57% abv. Recently the title of the world’s strongest beer went back to Scotland when Brewmeister came up with Armageddon, which has an incredible 65% abv.

The biggest bottle of Champagne

Many different Champagne houses like to create large bottles, with Jeroboam (three litres), Methuselah (six litres) and Balthazar (12 litres) proving popular sizes. But Armand de Brignac’s 30 litre Midas bottle is the largest bottle of Champagne that is available. This bottle has featured in several expensive rounds, including the most expensive bar bill in the UK. The 30 litre bottle can also be called a Melchizedek.

The biggest Champagne glass

So you’ve bought yourself a 30 litre Midas bottle of Armand be Brignac, now what are going to pour it into? This glass could be the answer.

The glass was created in Blakalava, Ukraine, stands 1.34m tall and was created by ART Glass. Part of its official certification as a Guinness World Record involved the glass actually holding wine as well. Zolotaia Balka winery from Ukraine bottled a special edition demi-sec for the record attempt and 75 bottles (75cl), were successfully poured into the glass.

Most glasses held in one hand

Philip Osenton breaks the world record for the most wine glasses held in one hand

OK, you don’t want to pour all your Champagne into one glass, and let’s face it that would make it difficult to share.

So perhaps Beijing-based sommelier Phillip Osenton would be a useful person to have around.

In October last year Osenton set a new world record for the most wine glasses held in one had, when he grabbed hold of an incredible 45 glasses.

The world’s most expensive wine

There are a variety of candidates for the record of the world’s most expensive wine, but the Penfold’s Ampoule is currently top of the list at £100,000. The hand-blown glass ampoule contains the Penfolds Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 and only 12 ampoules have been produced.

The scientific-grade ampoule, designed to store the wine in an ideal environment, and encased within the glass sculpture, was created by veteran scientific glassblower Ray Leake.

Furniture craftsman Andrew Bartlett designed and made the bespoke Jarrah cabinet, where the ampoule is suspended and Australian designer-maker Hendrik Forster prepared all the precious metal detailing. One of the other key features of the ampoule is that when the owner decides to open the wine a senior member of the Penfolds winemaking team will attend the opening.

The world’s biggest brewer

Anheuser-Busch InBev is the world’s largest brewer, producing around 400 million hectolitres of beer in 2011 and having nearly 25% of global market share. The brewer has a portfolio of over 200 brands that generate in the region of US$1 billion a year in revenue.

AB InBev was formed in 2008 after a merger between American brewer Anheuser-Busch and the Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev. The group’s global brands include Corona, Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s and the company also owns the distribution rights for Bacardi. The company now employs around 116,000 people in over 30 countries. And for the record the second largest brewer is SABMiller and third is Heineken International.

The most expensive bar bill

PlayGround club owner George Panayiotou carries in the Midas. Credit: Splash

There have been some candidates for taking this record recently ater Tamara Ecclestone splashed out on a big night as did media personality Daniel Koh. But the record for the UK’s biggest bar bill goes to young financier Alex Hope who splashed out £200,000 on drinks at a Liverpool nightclub.

The bill included £125,000 on a Midas bottle of Armand de Brignac, plus 40 more 75cl bottles of the Champagne, which he handed out to single girls in the club.

The most expensive white wine

In July 2011 French collector Christian Vanneque paid £75,000 for a bottle of 1811 Château d’Yquem, the most that has ever been paid for a bottle of white wine.

The 1811 vintage is hailed as one of Bordeaux’s greatest by those lucky enough to have tasted it, and wine critic Robert Parker gave it 100 points in 1999 when he described it as “liquefied crème brûlée.

The previous record for a white wine was also a bottle of Yquem from 1787, which was sold for £31,000 in 2006. After the purchase Vanneque joked with a reporter who asked him what he would do if the wine was corked. Vanneque said: “I hope not, my God. If it does, then I would call Guinness because it would be another record. The most expensive bottle of ruined wine in the world.”

The biggest bottle of wine

In 2010 a group of Chinese winemakers set about creating a new world record for the biggest-ever bottle of wine. They came up with a 15ft high wine bottle, which holds a staggering 1,850 litres of wine.

The wine in the bottle was made by Wang Chen Wines in Liaoning, northern China. After setting the new world record a company spokesman said: “We are very proud, and the wine is very good. We have all had a glass from the bottle to celebrate.” The previous record was set by Austrian winemakers Kracher, whose bottle held 490 litres of wine.