However, a New Zealand businessman, James Manning, will tonight write a cheque for that exact amount in a Melbourne bar. At the same time he will pen his name into the history books as the purchaser of what is believed to be the most expensive cocktail ever made.

The basis for the cocktail, which will be claimed as a Guinness world record, is a bottle of Croizet cognac dating back to 1858. It is itself already a world-record holder, having previously been valued at $157,000.

The bottle has been purchased from Croizet by Crown Melbourne's Club 23 bar, whose barman Joel Heffernan will put two days' preparation into the exotic cocktail.

It will include two nips of Croizet – at $6000 per shot – along with Grand Marnier Quintessence, Chartreuse Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolonge, and a dash of Angostura Bitters.

Heffernan's concoction will be presented with chocolate nutmeg dust, essence of poppy seed and roses, and hints of coconut, passionflower and oranges.

It will be named the "Winston" in tribute to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who is said to have shared a treasured bottle of 1858 Croizet with Allies commander General Dwight Eisenhower on the eve of D-Day in 1944.

The current world record for a single cocktail is held by "Salvatore's Legacy", a concoction developed by renowned barman Salvatore Calabrese using Clos de Griffier Vieux cognac that dates back to 1778. It sold for £5500 ($A8360) in October last year in a London bar.

Crown spokeswoman Ann Peacock said although the world record will belong solely to Mr Manning and tonight's cocktail, anyone else with the inclination – and finance – to try the concoction will still be able to indulge.

"An additional 11 cocktails will be available for purchase from Club 23. But because it takes two days to make, you have to give a bit of notice," she said.