In October 2010, two bottles of 64-year-old Trinitas malt whisky distilled at The Dalmore Distillery in Alness, Scotland, sold for a staggering £100,000 each (about $125,000 today). One bottle was sold in the United States; the other was sold in the United Kingdom.

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The jewellery company Eric N. Smith used twopart
epoxies to mount sterling silver mounts to the necks of 64-year-old Trinitas malt whisky bottles—each of which sold for £100,000. Photo courtesy The Dalmore Distillery

At the time, £100,000 was a world record price to pay for a bottle of whisky—and the first time a bottle of whisky ever sold for a six-figure sum, says David Robinson, rare whisky director at The Dalmore Distillery. That price was eclipsed in January 2011 when Dalmore sold a bottle of 62-year-old whisky for £125,000 (about $250,000 at the time).

The Dalmore hired the Glasgow-based jewellery company Eric N. Smith to create sterling silver mounts for the necks of the Trinitas bottles. Sterling silver is 925 parts pure metal and 75 parts copper.

To attach the mounts, Eric Smith, designer and managing director of the Eric N. Smith Co., turned to Henkel Corp. and its Loctite brand of adhesives. Smith regularly uses Loctite adhesives.

For this project, Smith worked closely with Jackie Marshall, a local Henkel sales engineer. Marshall provided technical assistance to the jeweller and his team, along with special bonding materials and ultraviolet lights.

After exhaustive tests, Smith determined that Loctite Hysol 3430 two-part epoxy was the best adhesive for this
unusual bonding application. Hysol 3430 uses a bi-mixer nozzle so the adhesive is automatically mixed at the point of application.

Ultra clear in appearance, the adhesive has a 1-to-1 mix ratio. It has a working life of 4 to 7 minutes and a fixture time of 12 minutes at 22 C. Hysol 3430 develops high strength within 2 to 4 hours at room temperature.

The adhesive can fill gaps up to 3 millimeters and can be used on surfaces made from metal, ceramic, rigid plastics or wood.

For more information on two-part epoxy adhesives, call 860-571-5100 or visit www.loctite.com.