You thought buying a table and popping bottles was something, these high priced drinks are the most expensive cocktails in the world.
Kentucky Derby Mint Julep
Where to sip: Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY
Cost: $1,000 USD
Why So Expensive? The drink is served in a custom cup and chilled by ancient ice. A limited-edition Tiffany & Co. silver cup is filled with Woodford Reserve bourbon, turbinado sugar, locally grown mint, and ice sourced from a 10,000-year-old Alaskan glacier.
Original Mai Tai
Where to sip: Merchant Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Cost: 750 pounds sterling, roughly $1,267 USD
Why So Expensive? Poured from a Trader Vic’s bottle. In the 1940s, American restaurateur “Trader Vic” Bergeon used a rare J. Wray & Nephew Jamaican rum to create the mai tai. Today, the Merchant Hotel owns one of only six existing bottles of the rum, and is the world’s only bar serving a mai tai with the coveted liquor. At this price it’s not likely to sell out anytime soon.
Macallan Single Malt Whiskey
Where to sip: Skyview Bar, Burj Al Arab, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Cost: 14.500 AED per 30 ml, roughly $4,000 USD
Why So Expensive? Only 420 bottles of Macallan 55 were made. This pour is said to come from “bottle number 287,” a serving of this 55-year-aged scotch. Of course it’s poured out of a Lalique crystal decanter. The bar used to offer a $7,400 cocktail made from the same scotch, served in a keepsake gold-plated glass — but it sold out! Only in Dubai.
Ritz-Paris Sidecar
Where to sip: Bar Hemingway, Ritz-Paris, France
Cost: 1,250 euros, roughly $1,670
Why So Expensive? This liquor survived World War II. The Ritz version blends Cointreau, lemon juice, and a price-hiking ingredient: exceptionally fine and historial champagne Cognac bottled between 1830 and 1870. Amazingly, there were left overs from the Germans who camped out the hotel during the Occupation.
The Diamond Is Forever Martini
Where to sip: Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo, Japan
Cost: 1,800,000 JPY, over $22,600 USD
Why So Expensive? The most extravagant drink on the list comes with a one-carat diamond ring in the glass. That’s the most exciting part, because the drink is made with Grey Goose Vodka and fresh lime juice.
