It was established in 1772 on the site of an old brewery on the banks of the River Clyde.

Less than a year later, an employee of Littlemill gained a legal right to distil excisable liquor at the site in Bowling, Dunbartonshire, and became the first legal distillery in Scotland.

It remained in place until 1994 when the stills fell silent for the final time. The remains of the building were destroyed by fire a decade later.

Now the final batch of Littlemill Testament Special Edition has sold for a new record price of £20,000 at an auction in Singapore.

With only four produced worldwide, the Special Edition is a much sought after product due to its unique case and liquid, which was taken from a single distillation dating back to October 1976.

Named Testament To The Past, the original liquid was re-casked in American oak hogsheads in 1996 before being matured in first-fill Oloroso sherry casks for four months ahead of bottling in 2020.

The remarkable exterior case includes a dress stopper made from fragments of the original Littlemill distillery.

Expert craftsmen and women delicately shaped original pieces of stone, glass, slate, or wood, directly salvaged from the old distillery manager’s house, before mounting each in a brass casing atop a crystal peg.

The decanter and dress stopper are accompanied by a pair of authentic Georgina wine glasses from the late 1700s featuring an engraved facet cut band.

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The new owners also receive a unique code to access two 5cl of the whisky that allows them to keep the sought-after cabinet and decanter liquid intact.

Held at Liquid Gold Auctioneers, the auction marked the last opportunity for global whisky enthusiasts to possess a piece of Scottish whisky history.

With 37 bids and a final price of approximately £20,000, it was also a record-breaking sell for Littlemill, with other Special Editions being sold in China and London (Sotheby’s).

The proceeds will be donated to Food Bank Singapore, the first food bank in Singapore.

The charity aims to eradicate food inequality by 2025 by working with donors and beneficiaries to redistribute fresh and cooked food to more than 100,000 underprivileged families and over 300,000 people in Singapore.

Colin Matthews, Loch Lomond Group chief executuive, said: “This rare piece of Scottish whisky-making history is deserving of the final and record-breaking auction price and we are particularly delighted the funds will support such a worthy cause in Singapore.

“For the new owner, Littlemill Testament To The Past is an astounding item of memorabilia and they are now one of few proud global custodians of the treasured remains of Scotland’s very oldest licensed distillery.

“Littlemill Testament was created through a passion for craftsmanship, and the Special Edition pays homage to this incredible era in Scottish whisky through the liquid and its packaging.”

The Littlemill distillery was officially established in 1772 on the site of an old brewery that had been founded during the 14th century in Bowling.

After one year, on November 2, 1773, local Justice of the Peace records for Dumbarton show “Robert Muir of Littlemiln”, an employee, was granted the first ever licence by the government of King George the 3rd to “…retail ale, beer and other excisable Liquors”.

For more than 220 years the date stone on the gable end of one of the warehouses on which was carved “1772” remained in place, until in 1994, the distillery closed.

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What few casks remain are owned and cared for by Loch Lomond Group, which is located a short distance from where Littlemill distillery once stood.

The Littlemill distillery was officially established in 1772 on the site of an old brewery that had been founded during the 14th century in Bowling on the banks of the River Clyde near Glasgow.

It is rumoured that illicit distilling had taken place there since 1750 when the site was bought by malt master George Buchanan, from Glasgow.

According to the renowned whisky historian and writer Mitsako Udo in her book The Scotch Whisky Distilleries, distilling may have taken place there for many centuries before, making it the world’s oldest whisky distillery.

In 1931 Littlemill led whisky still innovation with a new design that could create three styles of spirit under the stewardship of the American Duncan Thomas.

It was these stills that inspired the stills that remain in place at Loch Lomond Distillery today.

In 2015 Loch Lomond Group released a limited number of its Littlemill Private Cellar Edition.

Since then, a handful of bottles have been released annually.