A dram or two may be a typical way to herald the new year in Scotland, but few bars would expect customers to run up a six-figure bill.

One party of visitors to the Fife Arms, Braemar, a popular stopover among celebrities, spent £158,914 on 101 whiskies. And that was before it got to Hogmanay.

The receipt, dated 30 December and posted on social media, reveals they were probably a 15-strong group as there were two orders for that many rounds of separate whiskies. That means they splashed out an average £10,000 each on 6.7 drams. The total bill could have bought them a one-bedroom flat.

The revellers enjoyed their session in ­Bertie’s Whisky Bar, inspired by Queen Victoria’s hedonistic heir, King Edward VII. Bertie’s is described by the hotel as “a library of whiskies to discover, unusually arranged by flavour profile: Fragrant, Fruity, Rich and Smoky”.

Among those tasted were some of the most luxurious whiskies money can buy. Nearly half the bill consisted of an ­order for 15 drams of Balvenie 50-year-old, costing £67,500. Among other samples was a rare 1940s bottling of ­unpeated Laphroaig.

Not all were Scotch whiskies. There were five drams, priced at £1,500 each, of 24-year-old Karuizawa Samaroli, distilled on the southern slopes of a volcano northwest of Tokyo..

The Fife Arms is one of Scotland’s most popular hotels for New Year celebrations. In 2023, Actor Dame Judi Dench and Sharleen Spiteri, the Scottish singer of the band Texas were bar-room guests, while the comedian John Bishop, and actors Hugh Bonneville and Dame Maureen Lipman have visited recently.

Blair Bowman, a whisky expert, said he expected the guests to be “high net-worth individuals who were either very well guided by the bar staff… or they have a remarkable understanding and appreciation for old and rare whiskies.

“If that’s what they drank on the 30th, think what they enjoyed on Hogmanay itself.”

The bill in full

• 2 x Glenmorangie, 26-year-old, Truffle Oak £130 per dram £260 total
• 3 x Glenlivet, 34-year-old, George & J. G. Smith £130 per dram £390 total
• 2 x Glenfiddich, 40-year-old, £282 per dram £564 total
• 1 x Auchentoshan 44-year-old £400 per dram £400 total
• 1 x Yamazaki, Mizunara, 18-year-old £1,350 per dram £1350 total
• 2 x Royal Lochnagar 40-year-old Prima & Ultima £650 per dram £1300 total
• 3 x Weller 8-year-old C.Y.P.B £80 per dram £240 total
• 3 x Teeling. Sauternes Cask, 24-year-old £210 per dram £630 total
• 1 x Glenrothes, Samaroli, Magnifico 36-year-old £300 per dram £300 total
• 9 x Chicken Cock Prohibition £800 per dram £7,200 total
• 15 x Balvenie 50-year-old £4,500 per dram £67,500 total
• 1 x Benromach 39-year-old £360 per dram £360 total
• 15 x Glenlivet Gordon & MacPhail 1943 £850 per dram £12750 total
• 1 x Glen Grant Gordon & MacPhail 50-year-old 1936 £1,500 per dram £1500 total
• 1 x Gilbey’s Spey Royal 1940s £250 per dram £250 total
• 8 x Hazelwood Blended at Birth £950 per dram £7600 total
• 5 x Karuizawa, Samaroli, 24-years-old, 2023 £1500 £7500 total
• 1 x Talisker, Bodega Cask, 41-years-old, 1978, 41-years-old £500 per dram £500 total
• 9 x Port Ellen, Rogue Casks, 40-years-old £675 per dram £6075 total
• 5 x Old Pulteney, 35-years-old £200 £1000 total
• 10 x Laphroaig 1940s Unpeated £4000 per dram £40000 total
• 1 x Laphroaig, Samroli Magnifico £310.00 per dram £310 total
• 1 x Talisker, Expedition 11, 44-years-old £375 per dram £375 total
• 1 x Lagavulin, 31-years-old, 1991, Cask of Distinction £560 per dram. £560 total
• VAT 20%: £26,486
• Total: £158,914