A bartender’s dream of mixing the world’s most expensive cocktail has been shattered after its key ingredient, a £50,000 bottle of cognac, was accidentally smashed.

Drinks maestro Salvatore Calabrese was this week due mix the ‘Old and Wise’ cocktail - priced £5,050 a glass - at London’s exclusive Playboy Club under the watch of judges from Guinness World Records.

But his record-breaking attempt was dashed after a wealthy customer who ordered two glasses of the 1788 Clos de Griffier Vieux asked to study the bottle.

As the businessman and his companion finished their £5,000-a-glass drinks and rose from the table, the 234-year-old bottle was sent flying spilling the brandy across the club’s floor.