A FINE SCOTCH FOR A FINE WOMAN

Very few people reach the century mark. Fewer still make it past that, but if you’re among the lucky, you certainly deserve a tribute. When Janet Sheed Roberts (AKA The Wee Janie) turned 11O, she had an extremely rare whisky released in her honor. Of course, she also happens to be the granddaughter of William Grant, founder of Scottish distillery Glenfiddich. The 55-year-old reserve single malt is one of the rarest ever created by Glenfiddich. In November, the family-owned company prepared 11 hand-blown bottles of the whisky to honor Roberts, who is the oldest living Scot, having turned 11O in August. Peter Gordon, Glenfiddich chairman and Roberts’ great-nephew described the whiskey, named after his great-aunt, as “as a truly remarkable liquid”. The bottle fetched £46,85O (US $72,793) at Bonhams Edinburgh, beating the world record for the most expensive single malt bought at auction. The winning bid broke the previous record of £29,4OO (US $45,539). The successful bidder was identified only as an “online buyer”. All proceeds from the sale will go to charity, according to the company. Glenfiddich said it planned to offer the remaining ten bottles to international customers in the coming year. The cask was filled on New Year’s Eve 1955 when Roberts was 54. Only enough whisky was left to fill 15 bottles. Eleven of these – one to celebrate each decade of Roberts’ life – will be sold at auctions around the world over the next 12 months.