A Los Angeles entrepreneur has bought a $64,000 whiskey shot to benefit a non-profit organization.
Blaine Vess, CEO of StudyMode, an ed-tech company dedicated to helping students succeed in school, purchased a $64,000 dram of Macallan 64 Year single-malt whiskey on Saturday to benefit Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), a non-profit working with the North Korean people to accelerate change in their country.
Vess purchased the one-of-a-kind dram from The Macallan’s £10 cocktail lounge at Montage Beverly Hills. The Macallan has promised to donate proceeds from the whiskey’s sale to the charity of the buyer’s choice. Instead of drinking the one-of-a-kind dram, after toasting with Justin Wheeler, LiNK VP, and Danny Lee, a North Korean rescued by LiNK, Vess returned it to the hotel’s safe.
“I want to wait to drink it until the North Korean people are free — and I believe that will happen in my lifetime,” said Vess.
“I’m honored to support LiNK in promoting freedom and empowerment for the North Korean people, and grateful to The Macallan for their generosity in giving the proceeds from this valuable whiskey to charity. I hope what we’re doing here today will raise awareness for what LiNK is doing in North Korea, and encourage others to support their efforts as well.”
LiNK, based in Torrance, rescues North Korean refugees via a 3,000-mile underground railroad, and designs customized programs to empower resettled North Korean refugees to reach their full potential. Vess has supported LiNK since 2012, and recently became chairman of the non-profit’s board of directors.
“Our organization is funded by thousands of people who find creative and sometimes crazy ways to support the North Korean people,” said Wheeler. “We love that Blaine has decided to hold off drinking the shot and instead stand in solidarity with our North Korean friends. We can’t wait to return someday to raise our glasses filled with the world’s most expensive shot of whisky to celebrate the freedom of the North Korean people. We won’t stop until that day comes.”
The 85-proof dram of Macallan scotch that Vess purchased contains three single malts filled in 1942, 1945 and 1946. It is the only mini-bottle of its kind. A decanter of this same Macallan 64 Year single malt was auctioned off by Sotheby’s in New York in 2010 for $460,000.
