Expensive Cigars

Gurkha’s premier cigar

Gurkha’s premier cigar, His Majesty’s Reserve. Rightfully touted as the most expensive cigar in the world, these cigars aren’t just made with premium tobacco—they’re also infused with a generous portion of Louis XIII Cognac in a process that retains the flavor of the tobacco. Louis XIII Cognac, as you may know, is one of the finest cognacs on the market today.

Each year, fewer than 100 boxes of His Majesty’s Reserve cigars are produced and Gurkha’s president oversees their allocation to retailers. At $750, just one of these most expensive cigars will probably cost more than your vintage smoking jacket, but for the true aficionado, it may be a smoke too good to pass up.

Expensive Cigars

Cigar tobacco is grown in many places throughout the Americas and Caribbean, but certain cigars manufactured in Cuba are widely considered the best cigars in the world. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar. As expensive cigars are symbols of wealth and success, the world’s most expensive cigars may hold far more value than their price tag suggests.

When Altadis of Spain launched their “Behike” cigars, they were the most expensive cigars in the world. The expensive cigars were reportedly named after the tribal chief or sorcerer of the Cuban/pre-Colombian Taino tribe. A mere four thousand of the limited edition Cohiba brand cigars have been released and each box includes forty expensive cigars and allegedly retails for around $18,846. Yes, the expensive cigar will cost you $420 for each smoke.

Expensive Chair

The expensive armchair had belonged to a Paris-based art dealer before finding its way into the hands of Saint Laurent and Bergé. Reportedly, that very same art dealer is the person who paid ten times the chair’s estimated value to procure it at a Christie’s auction.

The chair was made by Irish designer Eileen Gray sometime between 1917 and 1919. Called the “Dragons” chair, it is one of Gray’s masterpieces and was expected to sell for €2-3 millions.

At Paris’ Grand Palais, held February 24th, the most expensive chair in the world was sold for €21.9 million—that’s US $27.8 million!

Expensive Tequila

One Tequila connoisseur has bought earlier this year what is thought to be the most expensive bottle of Tequila in the world at US$225,000: Pasion Azteca, Platinum Liquor Bottle by Tequila Ley .925

Each one of the limited-edition expensive tequila bottles, which resemble a barbed sea shell and are engraved by Alejandro Gomez Oropeza, a Mexican artist, are filled with Pasion Azteca tequila, made from pure sap of the blue agave plant that has been fermented, distilled, and aged for six years.

An additional 33 bottles have been made out of gold and platinum and retail slightly less for $150,000 while the range of gold and silver bottles of expensive tequila will set you back by $25,000.

Mr Altamirano, whose company, Tequila Ley .925, has won several awards for its unorthodox bottle designs, claimed one buyer has already bought an undisclosed number of bottles but he refused to say where the offer came from.

“Since we started out, we began with the idea of making the finest, most expensive bottle of tequila in the world,” Mr Altamirano said.

Much of the Pasion Azteca’s price tag is down to the quantity of platinum of the bottle rather than the actual quality of the tequila inside, but it is the world’s most expensive tequila.

Expensive Cognac

Cognac, like Champagne, is named after the area of France from whence it originates. In order to be considered worthy of the name, the brandy must be produced in the area surrounding the town of Cognac and it must be made at least 90% from three varieties of grapes that grow in the region—Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche or Colombard grapes. In fact, those are only two of the criteria required by the Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac (BNIC), the body that has ultimate control over whether or not a brandy may be called Cognac.

Considering the specific processes required to produce the most basic variety of the drink, the most expensive Cognac in the world must be something special indeed.

Called Henri IV Dudognon Heritage after the French king whose descendents have been producing this wine since 1776, this particular wine was aged for 100 years in barrels that were air dried for five years before use. The final product is 41% alcohol (82 proof).

That alone wasn’t enough to make it the world’s most expensive Cognac, though. The priciest aspect isn’t the wine itself, but the packaging. Dipped in 24k gold and sterling platinum, the bottle was adorned with 6,500 brilliant cut diamonds by its designer, jeweler Jose Davalos.

The final price of this costly Cognac is £1 million (around $2 million USD) and, if you’ve been paying any attention at all, it shouldn’t surprise you that Tequila Ley, the Mexican distilling company responsible for the expensive brandy, is planning to sell it in Dubai.