In 2005, Johnnie Walker released a special edition $3,500 Blue Label scotch to commemorate the 200th birthday of the company’s founder. It was bottled in a square Baccarat decanter and packed in a large blue, Italian-leather box. Not to be outdone, Macallan’s new 55-year-old scotch, priced at $12,000, comes in a Lalique decanter inspired by a 1910 perfume bottle, which is enclosed in a leather-and-silk presentation box. But Ardbeg’s latest, the $20,000 Double Barrel set, may boast the most impressive packaging of all: The distillery paired two bottles from two different 1974 casks and commissioned the company that makes cases for the British shotgun manufacturer Purdey to create a box from hand-stitched bridle leather.

Not only brown spirits have received luxury makeovers. For the past few years, Piper-Heidsieck has been working with fashion designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Viktor & Rolf to create special bottles and boxes for its champagne. Even tequila, famous for being consumed in shots rather than sips, now comes completely decked out. Since 1995, Jose Cuervo has been commissioning Mexican artists to decorate the wood boxes that house its $100 Reserva de la Familia, while Dos Lunas’ new Grand Reserve “extra-añejo” tequila is packaged in an impressive wooden briefcase bearing an equally impressive $2,500 price tag.

Such special boxes and bottles may be eye-catching behind a bar, but they can be a challenge for store owners. Goldstein, whose shop stocks hundreds of single malts alone, has to continually reorganize his shelves to accommodate these odd-shaped containers. For example, Bruichladdich has been relegated to a separate area, as this whiskey comes in tins that take up as much room as two standard bottles.

Ultra-premium brands also pose another problem for stores: security. You won’t find the oversize Ardbeg Double Barrel on Goldstein’s shelves, and a dummy version is on display in the window. As for the rest of his selection of luxury bottles, Goldstein says, “They’re not within arm’s reach.”

Noah Rothbaum is the author of the new book The Business of Spirits: How Savvy Marketers, Innovative Distillers, and Entrepreneurs Changed How We Drink.