Whiskey Wednesday: Why I Shed No Tears for the Stolen Mortlach 70

The big news in the whisky world over the past week or two has been that a bottle of the Gordon & MacPhail 70 year old Mortlach, reputedly the oldest whisky ever bottled, was stolen from the Gordon & MacPhail importer's table at the Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival. The bottle was stolen after the show while the supplies were in a locked room. Mark Gillespie has a thorough report on this week's episode of WhiskyCast.

For those of you who have been living under a rock (or drink it on the rocks), the Mortlach 70 was released earlier this year and goes for around $15,000 per bottle. Of course, while this may seem like a lot to the uninitiated, two bottles of Dalmore sold last week for around $150,000 each.

Now, I don't condone theft of any kind, but I can't say I'm shedding any tears for the folks at G&M (or importer Symposium). If you are going to start selling whisky for the same price as rare jewels, you better be prepared to treat it like rare jewels. I'm talking armored cars, motion sensor laser activated alarm systems and briefcases handcuffed to the brand ambassador. Leaving it in the back of the stack of bottles just ain't going to cut it anymore. Sorry, but the industry brought this on themselves.

In my dreams, some whisky Robin Hood figure took the bottle and will be pouring it at his local pub.

And I hope someone is on the phone with Henning Mankell. This would make a great Wallander mystery.