Inside the ultimate £750k drinks tour

A travel company is offering a “not to be repeated” super-luxurious 10-stop world tour sampling some of its most expensive drinks – for a cool £750,000 ($1.3m).

In what can only be described as the ultimate drink connoisseurs’ holiday, one UK tour operator is offering a one-off taste of the high life taking guests to locations including Monaco, Las Vegas and Dubai, visiting elite establishments such as Salvatores and The Billionaires Club, to the Crown Club Casino in Australia’s Melbourne, all while tasting some of the rarest and most exclusive drinks on the planet.

The trip, priced at £750,000 per couple ($1.3 million), includes tours of the Dalmore distillery, the Grey Goose factory in Cognac, and a sip of a £12,000 cocktail laden with diamonds – and that is just for starters.

Other drinks up for tasting include Armand De Brignac £300,000 “Dynastie” collection and the ultra-rare Penfolds Ampoule, all while staying at some of the world’s finest hotels and travelling business class, naturally.

Scroll through to see what top class tipples you could be tasting as part of this worldwide drinking extravaganza…

Salvatore ‘Legacy’ cocktail – £5,500 a glass ($9,000)

World-renowned bartender Salvatore Calabrese broke the Guinness World Record for the most expensive cocktail in 2012 with this Cognac-based drink priced at £5,500 a glass. “Salvatore’s Legacy”, concocted by Calabrese in front of an audience of London’s top bartenders at The Playboy Club in Mayfair, was also the world’s oldest cocktail, containing a liqueur from 1770 and Cognac from 1788, around the time of the American Revolution and Captain Cook’s claiming of Australia. The cocktail, is 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.

Legacy by Angostura – £20,000 ($33,000)

Released in 2012 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Trinidad’s independence, 20 decanters of the rum were put up for sale for £20,000 a piece. Each 500ml crystal and silver decanter, specially created by Asprey of London, the jewellers to Prince Charles, is protected by a wooden box lined with silk and velvet and covered by soft red calf leather. Its stopper is made of sterling silver and depicts a rare Trinidadian butterfly resting on sugar cane. Currently the ‘world’s most expensive rum’ Legacy by Angostura is made up of rums aged for at least 17 years and each decanter comes with a US$25,000 price tag.

Vieille Bon Secours – £700 a bottle ($1,170)

A 12-litre bottle of this Belgian ale, brewed by Caulier, was discovered in the cellar of London’s Belgo restaurant in 2009, and is believed to be be the world’s most expensive single bottle of beer.

Dalmore Trinitas – £100,000 ($167,000)

Only three bottles of this super-rare 64-year-old single malt whisky have been released by Dalmore, crafted by Master Distiller, Richard Paterson and priced at £100,000 a bottle.

Grey Goose Gallon – £600 ($1,000)

Commonly seen arriving at the table of VIPs in nightclubs, ardent fans of the the premium French vodka Grey Goose can indulge in a 4.5 litre bottle of the liquid for around £600.

Henri Jayer Richebourg Grand Cru 78 – £15,000 ($25,000)

Jayer wines of Burgundy are renowned for their “balance and elegance” with an average price of $16,325 (£10,463), with the maximum currently rising to £17,000.

Armand de Brignac ‘Dynastie’ – £330,000 ($551,000)

After launching in Las Vegas in 2013, the first Armand de Brignac ‘Dynastie’ collection was sold i to a British entrepreneur for £330,000 in Monaco in May. The collection, formed of nine different sizes of Armand de Brignac Brut Gold NV, ranging from a standard 75cl bottle to a 30L Midas, was bought by businessman Charles Shaker at the Billionaire Club in Monte-Carlo at a party celebrating the Monaco Grand Prix. The equivalent of 109 standard 75cl bottles, it took a procession of 12 waiting staff to carry the collection through the club, with the Midas alone requiring the strength of four men.

Egon Müller Trockenbeerenauslese  – £3,000 ($5,000)

The Müller family has owned this Scharzhofberg vineyard since 1797, and its steep slopes southerly exposure and stony slate soil are all listed as crucial factors for the sweet wines grown here. Typically just 100 to 200 bottles of Egon Müller Trockenbeerenauslese are produced each vintage and this is reflected in the price, making it the world’s most expensive Riesling.

Penfolds Ampoule – £110,000 ($183,000)

In 2012 Penfolds released its Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 in a hand-blown glass ampoule, with a price tag of just over £100,000. With only 12 produced, each individually numbered ampoule holds the equivalent of one 750ml bottle. 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.

Winston Cocktail – £16,400 ($27,000)

Australian bartender Joel Heffernen broke the record for the world’s most expensive cocktail, previously held by Salvatore Calabrese, having successfully made a Winston cocktail at the Crown Club 23 bar in Melbourne last year. The cocktail, which takes 16 hours to make and carries a price tag of AU$12,500 (£8,200), contains Cognac Croizet 1858 Cuvee Leonie and a specially-prepared garnish of chocolate and nutmeg soil. A bottle of 1858 Croizet Cognac alone is said to be worth around £100,000, available at the Crown Casino Club in Melbourne.

The Ono Cocktail – £13,000 ($21,000)

Made with Charles Heidsieck Champagne Charlie 1981, the rare Louis XIII de Remy Martin Black Pearl Cognac, (a shot of which costs £1,250 alone), Sence Rose Nectar, freshly squeezed orange juice and apricot puree, the Ono is the signature cocktail of the XS Nightclub in Las Vegas and one of the world’s most expensive cocktails. Served in a gold-rimmed Baccarat Champagne flute, its lucky recipient also receives an 18-carat gold necklace with a black pearl and diamond, and Mont Blanc cuff links as part of their purchase.

Jose Cuervo 250 Aniversario Tequila – £1,500 ($2,500)

This limited edition 100% blue agave Extra Anejo Tequila was bottled to commemorate the brand’s 250 year anniversary, blended from the most select tequilas in the family’s reserve and aged in a unique double-cask method. Each bottle, individually numbered, carries a price tag of £1,500 ($2,250) a bottle.