A Welsh whiskey maker turned down a visit from former US president Bill Clinton - when he was asked to fork out £50,000 for the privilege.
Abergavenny farmer Mr Ben Jones says he received an out-of-the-blue call from a member of Mr Clinton's entourage saying the ex-president would love to drop-in and sample his traditional whiskey.
But delight turned to dismay when the south Wales farmer was told Mr Clinton "had to earn a living" and the endorsement would cost around £50,000.
Mr Jones, who began reproducing his grandfather's whiskey recipe five years ago, said: "I told him I couldn't afford it and would have to see what my wife had stuffed under the mattress."
The former art lecturer was told in the call from a man organising Mr Clinton's visit to the Hay-on-Wye books festival that the ex-president would be passing and had heard about Danzy Jones whiskey.
Mr Jones (54) said: "I was told Bill likes whiskey and would like to call in. I didn't believe it at first . . . It then emerged that he would be looking for a fee. I was told the ex-president had to earn a living and that a figure of £50,000 had been mentioned to a distillery in Ireland."
Mr Jones said: "It was there the discussions ended. I was taken aback." "It was only later that I read Clinton's whole trip to the UK had been a fund-raising exercise". Mr Clinton is reported to be struggling to pay $11 million £7.7 million) in legal bills from the Kenneth Starr inquiry into the Lewinsky affair.