LONDON — A bottle of Scotch whisky billed as “probably the most sought-after” on the planet bought Saturday for nearly 2.2 million kilos ($2.7 million), an public sale report for a bottle of wine or spirits.
The Macallan Adami 1926 bought at Sotheby’s in London, after a bidding struggle between would-be consumers on the cellphone and within the room.
Simply 40 bottles of The Macallan 1926 had been bottled in 1986 after being aged in sherry casks for 60 years. Twelve of the bottles, together with the one bought Saturday, had labels designed by Italian painter Valerio Adami.
One other bottle from the identical cask was bought by Sotheby’s in 2019 for nearly 1.5 million kilos, which was a report for wine or spirits till Saturday.
“The Macallan 1926 is the one whisky that each auctioneer desires to promote and each collector desires to personal,” stated Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s world head of spirits.
He stated the record-breaking sale was “nothing wanting momentous for the whisky trade as an entire. ”
The bottle bought Saturday is the primary to have undergone reconditioning by the distillery forward of public sale. This included changing the cork and making use of new glue to the corners of the bottle labels.
The ultimate worth of two,187,500 kilos ($2,714,250) features a cost often known as the customer’s premium on prime of the sale worth of 1.75 million kilos. The value effectively exceeded the pre-sale estimate of 750,000 kilos to 1.2 million kilos.
And what’s a $2.7 million whisky like? Macallan’s Grasp Whisky Maker Kirsteen Campbell, who gave the tipple a sniff in the course of the reconditioning, stated it contained notes of “wealthy darkish fruits, black cherry compote alongside sticky dates, adopted by intense candy vintage oak.”
“Darkish chocolate, treacle, ginger … the notes go on and on,” she stated. “It was a really particular second to expertise the opening of this iconic 60 Years Previous single malt, first bottled 37 years in the past, and I hope the brand new custodian will get pleasure from the identical privilege.”