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Update: Search Continues for Toronto Whisky Thief in Glenfiddich 50 Heist
Updated April 26, 2013 – Police in Toronto are still looking for a man who stole a $26,000 (CDN) bottle of Glenfiddich 50-year-old Scotch from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s Queens Quay store April 7.
Investigators say the suspect selected the rare whisky from the downtown store’s Vintages section, where rare bottles are usually kept in locked display cases, then picked out a bottle of wine. He left the store after paying for the wine, but not the whisky. Glenfiddich only releases 50 bottles of the 50-year-old whisky each year, and this was one of only 15 bottles available in Canada, according to the LCBO’s Heather McGregor.
“We are cooperating with the Toronto Police Service, and we hope that we can recover the bottle,” McGregor told WhiskyCast’s Mark Gillespie. “We take theft very seriously at LCBO…we have surveillance in place, we use in-store security, and we have staff training to help deal with shoplifting and theft. But, when something like this does happen, it’s an opportunity for us to look at the way we do things and determine whether changes need to be made.”
McGregor declined to say how the thief was able to get the bottle of whisky from the display case, citing the ongoing investigation.
Police released this photo of the suspect from the store’s surveillance camera. He is described as 35-45 years old, 5’10″ in height, and clean-shaven with black-framed glasses. He was wearing a plaid Burberry-style shirt, brown cap, brown trenchcoat, and black jeans. Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact the Toronto Police Service’s 51 Division at 416-808-5100. According to McGregor, the LCBO is not offering a reward.
This is the most valuable bottle of whisky known to have been stolen since October of 2010, when a thief stole a 20cl bottle of the Gordon & MacPhail Generations Mortlach 70 single malt from the Symposion booth at the Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival. That bottle was never recovered.
Links: LCBO | Toronto Police
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