Glenfiddich has released 15 bottles of Glenfiddich 1973, a rare 46 years old whisky finished in an ex-Armagnac cask, as unique NFTs.
What’s apparently better than actually having a bottle of whisky that’s almost a half-century old? How about having a digital token that says that you, and you alone, own that particular bottle? That’s what Glenfiddich is offering well-heeled whisky lovers with its new NFT release.
Each of the 15 bottles is priced at US$18,000 and is available on a new platform called BlockBar, a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace for luxury wine and spirits products.
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The idea behind the release is for Glenfiddich to make its portfolio of rare whiskies available to everyone (well, cash-rich everyones), as usually these rare drops would typically be sold on exclusive auctions. Each NFT corresponds to an actual bottle, sequestered at a secure storage facility by BlockBar, and the owner of the NFT can keep it, sell it, or even exchange the token for the actual Glenfiddich 1973 bottle if they can’t hold out any longer.
After all, this exceptional spirit has spent more than two decades in an ex-Armagnac cask and the result is a superbly complex whisky with a long, sweet finish.
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In this case, NFTs have a specific purpose; they provide a warranty and help with traceability while connecting the customer to the whisky brand. If anything, it’s hoped the tokenization will add additional value to bottles that would already be coveted by collectors. In addition, whisky buyers can be assured that their accounts won’t be compromised and their NFTs won’t be stolen, because the tokens are protected by FireBlocks’ digital asset custody infrastructure and Chainalysis’ compliance technology.
This launch opens up a huge opportunity for the luxury spirits market and for those wanting to invest crypto in physical assets that will always increase in value. Would-be owners can pay with a credit card or using cryptocurrency, the caves being that if you don’t make the payment within a few minutes, you lose the deal.
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Glenfiddich is the first brand to use this new service, which will also soon allow would-be collectors to buy other rare spirits as well as wines.
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