I recall being in a liquor store about 15 years ago and behind the counter was a bottle of scotch that was priced at $15,000. I wondered who on Earth would purchase such an item.

Many, many drinks later and after years of sobriety that question comes to mind once again. As reported in www.theglobeandmail.com.

Now, as an educational director for an online stop theft class I read a story where the Liquor Control Board of Ontario can’t explain how a $26,000 bottle of Scotch whisky was shoplifted from a “locked” glass display case in a Toronto store.

The booze in question is a 50-year-old Glenfiddich Single Malt. The bottle is extremely rare, with only 15 other bottles in Ontario and 50 bottles worldwide.

Who stole this alcohol? Police are not sure. All they have to go on is a clean shaven man 35 to 45 years old, nattily dressed in a Burberry shirt and wearing black framed glasses. They also have video footage of the thief in action as he is tampering with the lock of the case before taking the 700 ml bottle to another aisle and slipping it into a brown trench coat he had over his shoulder.

He then picked up a bottle of wine, which he brought to the cash and paid for, but left the store without paying for the pricey vintage bottle concealed in his jacket.

Do you send this guy to a stop theft class if he is caught? Could mandatory shoplifting classes combined with religious training have empowered this man to never have stolen?