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“They don’t have a lot of older whisky, and yet they’re the world’s number one selling Single Malt,” he said. “It’s like any luxury good. If the value seems to be high for something it not only creates an incentive for thieves, but it creates an incentive for counterfeiters as well.”

Mr. Ferguson explains that there is a growing market for rare whisky in places like Taiwan, China and Russia, and a growing black market for vintage alcohol worldwide.

Mr.Ferguson, who has been honoured as Canada’s only keeper of the Quaich, a society that promotes the heritage and quality of scotch, is one of the few to sample the only other 50-year-old single malt scotch released by Glenfiddich.

“It was just incredibly deep and complex,” he said. “You would expect something that old to be over the top oaky and one-dimensional, and it was nothing like that at all. It had lots of layers and complexity and depth, and it was quite subtle in many ways.”

While there are a wide variety of aged whiskies on the market, Mr. Ferguson explains that many are matured longer than necessary, and can spoil if left in a barrel for too long.

“That’s why some of these older whiskies, the pricey ones, are so highly sought after because of this magical balance between time and flavour development,” he said. “Older whiskies over 40 years of age often disappoint, but when they don’t, they’re breathtakingly beautiful.”

With Glenfiddich only releasing 50 bottles of the 50-year old single-malt each year for 10 years, Mr. Ferguson just hopes the bottle doesn’t go to waste.

“Wherever that bottle ends up, I just hope it ends up getting opened and enjoyed by someone.”

Police have released a surveillance image of the suspect and are asking anyone with information to call Crimestoppers at (416) 222-TIPS, or submit a tip online at www.222tips.com.