It is usually cheap whisky which is accused of making the drinker wince. But Should the buyer of the 42.8% ABV Macallan which has been auctioned for a world record £1.2m choose to open it, the experience could be eye-watering for a different reason.
Each 25ml dram from the 70cl bottle would be worth an astonishing £42,857.
When the hammer fell at Christie's in London yesterday, the unique bottle of 1926 60-Year-Old Macallan whisky went for a bid of exactly £1.2m – with the actual sum paid rising to £1.2m including buyer's premiums.
Presented in a unique bottle hand-painted by the Irish artist Michael Dillon, it was sold as part of Christie's Fine & Rare Collection auction.
The bottle, featuring Dillon’s depiction of The Macallan’s historic home, Easter Elchies House, built in 1700, is the first whisky to break the £1million mark.
The only one of its kind and unseen for nearly 20 years, the bottle had been described as "the most collectable single malt produced in the 20th century" and bottles from its cask – number 263 – dubbed the Holy Grail for collectors.
Speaking ahead of the sale, Tim Triptree, Christie’s International Director of Wine, said: "This whisky is basically the finest and most collectable single malt produced in the 20th century.
"I would like to think that someone will open it. Whisky is produced to be drunk and enjoyed -- although it’s fair to say that each wee dram of this particular whisky is going to work out to be pretty expensive."
The previous world record for a bottle sold at auction was set only last month when another Macallan 1926 60-Year-Old, this time one of 12 featuring a label designed by the Italian pop artist Valerio Adami, made £848,750 at
Bonhams in Edinburgh.
The Speyside distillery asked pop artists Adami and Peter Blake, the artist responsible for the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, to design labels for the 1926 Macallan 60-Year-Old malt, and 12 individually numbered bottles from each artist were released after the whisky had spent 60 years maturing in ex-sherry casks prior to bottling in 1986.
Less well-known was that one bottle from the rare cask was commissioned and hand-painted by Irish artist Dillon and offered for sale at Fortnum & Mason in London in 1999.
Nearly 20 years on, The Macallan were unsure that the bottle still existed and were said to have been "excited" at its re-emergence.
Highlighting the strength of the current whisky market, prior to this year, the previous auction of a Macallan 60-year-old with an Adami label was in 2007, which sold for $75,000.
Christie's said they were "delighted to bring this unique bottle to market". Mr Triptree said that after spending 60 years in cask, the record-breaking whisky would be dark in colour -- "amber, a bit of mahogany in there".
He added that, should it be opened, the taste would be "incredibly complex". "The flavours are going to be so concentrated, and it’s going to have so many aromas, that each time you get to the glass I’m sure you would
be smelling and tasting something different."
Mr Triptree said the atmosphere in the auction room was "electric" as
bidding opened at £700,000 and escalated to the seven figure sum.
The hammer came down at a world record £1m -- sparking a spontaneous round
of applause for the successful buyer, who was bidding on the telephone
against a rival in the auction room.
Mr Triptree said: "We are absolutely delighted -- £1.2m is quite a price.
"It was an amazing atmosphere with bidding in the room and on the phone.
Two bidders were involved from the start, just going for it. We opened up
at £700,000 and went up to £1 million.
"As the bidding went up and up it was electric, culminating in a round of
applause.
"It is a unique and beautiful bottle. My hope is that it will be drunk and
enjoyed but that all depends on the successful buyer and what they want to
do with it. I hope I'm there."
The unique hand-painted bottle, which had belonged to a private collector,
had been estimated at "around £1million" ahead of the sale.
It was one of several Macallan whiskies sold during the auction, including
some directly from the Speyside distillery.
Among the highlights were a rare bottle of The Macallan 50-Year-Old that
made £72,000 and a selection of The Macallan Exceptional Single Cask
including a VIP visit to The Macallan, which made £66,000.
Five bottles of The Macallan Genesis, a limited-edition released to
celebrate the 2018 opening of the new distillery and visitor experience,
achieved a combined £11,400, with proceeds to be donated to selected
Speyside community support organisations."
Mr Triptree added: "The sale represents a landmark moment in the whisky
market with The Macallan 1926 60-Year-Old achieving £1,200,000 and
establishing a world auction record for a bottle of whisky.
"The results confirm the strength of the market for whisky and the
continued success of Christie’s in offering the finest spirits to our
collectors across the globe.
"We were delighted to collaborate with The Macallan to present a selection
of whiskies direct from the distillery."
Ends...
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