Members-Only Whiskey Club Inks Deal at Midtown West Townhouse
By Daniel Edward Rosen August 1, 2012 7:30 am
reprintsMaltheads rejoice.
A brand new private, exclusive whiskey club has inked a 10-year lease at a 5-story Midtown West townhouse (at an undisclosed location) that is set to open sometime this year.
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1494, a whiskey club that launched in June, will offer scotch whiskey lovers the finest and rarest of malt and grain blends the world has to offer.
“We get a lot of privately collected whiskeys that come across our desks, and we also deal directly with the distilleries in Scotland as well, so we really have our finger on the pulse of going out there and finding the harder-to-find whiskeys for our members,” said David Clelland, the Glaswegian founder of 1494.
If one wants a rare Ernest Shackleton whiskey or sip of a Black Bowmore, the club will give a whiskey connoisseur the chance to indulge in the exceptional, the club promises.
The 1494 will devote one of the floors for themselves, “where we hide all of our whiskey,” laughed Mr. Clelland.
The club will also have all the modern security touches that is required when storing some of the most sought-after whiskeys in the world.
“We have sub-basement vaults, where we’re insured to up to $5 million-worth of whiskey,” said Mr. Clelland. “A lot of what we’ve done is take the headache out of trying to do something like this,” he added.
Those who opt for a “connoisseur membership” will receive exclusive access and use of the new members-only 1494 townhouse, annual “meet the masters” dinners, access to a on-premises bespoke tailor from Saville Row, and an annual golf and distillery trip to Scotland, among other features.
1494 has already signed strategic partnerships with Bonhams, Nat Sherman, and Range Rover. The club has also tracked down a 50-year-old bottle of Macallan and a bottle of a Black Bowmore.
The club calls itself 1494 as a tribute to the first written record of a scotch whiskey’s distillation (done on the orders of Scottish King James IV).
Mr. Clelland would not identify the address of the 1494 townhouse.
drosen@observer.com