26 February 2021
Newsdesk
JAY-Z is to auction off a rare cognac bottle to benefit his Shawn Carter Foundation.
He has teamed up with bosses at D'usse Cognac to sell off a luxury D'usse 1969 Anniversaire Limited Edition bottle to boost funds that support professional development and entrepreneurship workshops for students.
The decades-old cognac is worth $10,000 (£7,100) and the bottle up for grabs features a 24-karat gold foil around the neck, a diamond decanter design encased in a leather box, and an engraved signature from JAY-Z.
The rapper and D'usse's cellar master Michel Casavecchia discovered the bottle in France and agreed to save it for a special occasion.
"When our Cellar Master, Michel Casavecchia, discovered the aged liquid at the Chateau de Cognac and explained how truly one of a kind it is, it was important to me to honor it by doing something that would celebrate its singularity," Jay-Z said in a statement. "Once that barrel is emptied, there's no way the liquid can be recreated.
"The whole process behind the 1969 Anniversaire collection reminded me why I got involved in the spirits industry in the first place - to create something that will stand the test of time. It means a lot that we're finally able to share the D'USSE 1969 Anniversaire Limited Edition with the rest of the world, and we're proud to auction the first bottle in the collection with Sotheby's to benefit the Shawn Carter Foundation."
Bidding begins on Monday and the highest bid will earn the bottle at the Sotheby's Finest & Rarest Spirits auction on 13 March. More bottles will go on sale in cities across America in May.
