STOP PRESS: American flashes the cash in Park Lane members club.

On Sunday 26 June, the first of only six bottles of Armand de Brignac 'Midas' bottles of Champagne was purchased by professional gambler and friend to the stars, Don Johnson – a gent we are reliably informed is also dubbed 'The Champagne King' but who sadly has no connection to neither Crockett nor Tubbs.

In a show of excess sure to upset the Daily Mail (thank heavens Prince Harry doesn’t seem to have been involved) Johnson first stumped up for a 6L Methuselah of Armand de Brignac for a reasonable £25,000 before stepping things up a notch and opting for the 30L Midas, priced at an impressive £120,000. The Midas bottles are individually crafted by only eight expert artisans, and it takes a minimum of three people to pick up the bottle and pour a glass.

The OneForOne Club on Park Lane were pre-warned of Johnson's intentions and contacted Cellar Trends (UK distributor for Armand de Brignac) early on Saturday morning to let them know that the Midas was required by 5pm that evening. What followed was a situation we can only assume was ever-so-slightly stressful: locating the Midas in a Manchester warehouse, arranging and completing its secure transportation to the capital in a matter of hours. But arrive it did, although as luck would have it, Johnson postponed his visit until the following evening.

Johnson was in London to watch his close friend Jon Bon Jovi play in Hyde Park, before jetting back to the US to host the birthday party of another bosom buddy, Pamela Anderson. His visit to OneForOne came about after hearing that another of their customers had set London’s previous record for libatory extravagance earlier this year, in blowing £80,000 on an Armand de Brignac Nebuchaznezzar. With the determination of the professional gambler, Johnson took it upon himself to raise the stakes.

To celebrate his victory each of the club's other guests was treated to a glass of champagne by generous Johnson, but typically the house won – can you imagine that service charge?

News item from Imbibe.com, 29-06-2011