Put down your reconstituted pineapple juice for a second and feast your eyes on the latest world record-breaking whisky instead.
This is the 1926 Macallan and this week it fetched a staggering $2 million (US$1.5 million) as part of Christie’s auction of fine and rare spirits – the highest figure ever recorded for a publicly sold bottle.
“The sale represents a landmark moment in the whisky market,” said Tim Triptree MW, Christie’s international director of Wine.
If this headline sounds familiar then you wouldn’t be wrong. Earlier this year Bonhams in Hong Kong sold two of the same 1926 Macallan bottles featuring labels by Sir Peter Blake and Valerio Adami for US$1.2 million. Following that, another Bonhams auction in Edinburgh saw a single bottle of 1926 Macallan selling for US$1.2 million.
And now we have the latest title clincher from the coveted Scotch whisky brand at US$1.5 million. That’s three consecutive records in 2018 alone with the latter bearing a unique bottle design.
How unique?
This particular bottle was so elusive that it was last seen trading hands in 1999 at Fortnum & Mason. From that point on, even The Macallan distillery didn’t know if it still existed – until now.
This particular example is exceptionally rare thanks to its label. Of the 25 bottled back in 1986, this is the only one to feature a label decorated by hand; a true unicorn of the drinking world (not that anyone will be game enough to drink it).
Love more rare whisky stories? Check out the world’s most expensive Japanese whisky. Or better yet, find out how not to get ripped off with fakes when buying expensive whisky.