Dry January's great. 

The not-drinking. 

The eating-healthier. 

The overall being-a-better-human...

But it's also a bit inhibitive. Especially, say, if you're in the market for an extremely rare, inordinately expensive bottle of Macallan single-malt scotch...

Behold: the 1978 vintage Macallan. It's the latest bottle to be released under the auspices of the preeminent 19th-century Scottish distillery's Fine & Rare collection, launched in 2002 to identify some of Macallan's finest maturing stocks (and make them available to lucky people like you). Only 243 bottles exist globally—and only five have been made available for the U.S. market. The price is, err, justifiable, provided you've got $11,700 to spare on your monthly whisky budget...

There's a reason this scotch is so costly—not necessarily a good reason, but a reason. According to The Macallan's Whisky Maker, Steve Bremner, the vintage matured in a "second fill remade American oak Hogshead cask," but did so during a period in time when "some peated expressions" were being laid down. Given how unusual it is with Macallan for one to find peated smoke entwined with the hallmarks of American oak—apricot, vanilla, toffee—this particular cask is exceptional, even for a distillery whose every cask may be considered exceptional. 

As far as taste goes, then, you should expect a lingering peaty smokiness to accentuate notes of oak spice and bittersweet orange, with a silky, creamy, slightly sweeter orange finish. The color is an autumnal oak; with a 59.6% ABV, it will assuredly get you drunk. And assuming you don't have the funds or desire to purchase this bottle yourself, you should expect to sip it slowly, languorously, in the mansion of a whisky-obsessed millionaire somewhere, perhaps with a cigar on hand for afterwards.

How you'll get there, we don't know. That's up to you. 

Good luck, and godspeed.

If you're actually looking to purchase a bottle of this stuff, shoot an email to Inquiries.us@themacallan.com.