(FORTUNE Magazine) – Talk about spotting opportunity in the midst of potential disaster: A chance mistake left Scotland's Bowmore distillery with a cask full of Scotch with an unusual pedigree. Normally, most Scotches are aged in either sherry or bourbon barrels; this particular batch spent its first two decades in a sherry-soaked barrel, which sprang a leak. Caught without an empty sherry cask on hand, a distiller transferred the remaining scotch into a bourbon barrel instead; the brew then sat another 20 years.

Upon tasting the results of this lucky fluke, Bowmore realized it had something unusual on its hands and slapped a $7,000 price tag on each of the 294 bottles. So how is it? Well, the eyedropperful offered to FORTUNE was extremely smooth and warm, with a delicate finish, but it tasted more like an Armagnac loaded with tropical-fruit flavors than like Scotch. Rather than spring for the whole bottle, head to the Hole In One Bar in Manhattan, where you can enjoy Bowmore 40 Year Old for the low price of $920 a shot.

--Ed Brown