Sotheby’s enlisted a rare Macallan Adami 1926 at auction estimated for $700,000 to $1,200,000 and it sold for about $2.7 million.
The “most sought after” Scotch whisky in the world, the Macallan Adami 1926, sold for $2.7 million as per Sotheby’s. It set an auction record for a bottle of wine or spirits.
The rare whisky sold in London after a bidding war between prospect buyers on the phone and in the room.
The Macallan Adami 1926 aged in sherry casks for 60 years and only 40 bottles were made in 1986. Italian painter Valerio Adami designed the bottle labels for 12 of the bottles which included the one recently sold on Saturday (November 18).
Macallan Adami 1926, most expensive whisky
Sotheby’s referred to the Macallan Adami 1926 as the world’s most expensive whisky. The 60-year old spirit recorded the highest estimate ever placed on a wine or whisky with $700,000 to $1,200,000 projected sale.
The auction body said that the bottle sold Saturday was the first one that Macallan’s distillery reconditioned. The process involved replacing the bottle’s capsule and cork and applied new glue to the bottle’s label corners.
Associated Press (AP) reported that a Macallan whisky maker, Kirsteen Campbell, described the notes of the spirit that contained “rich dark fruits, black cherry compote alongside sticky dates, followed by intense sweet antique oak.”
Campbell added that it was a special moment to experience opening the 60-year-old single malt. “I hope the new custodian will enjoy the same privilege,” she said.
Momentous sale for the whisky industry
Sotheby’s said that the rarity factor of the bottles are that some believed a Japanese earthquake destroyed the Adami-labeled ones.
Sotheby’s global head of spirits Jonny Fowle said that the record-breaking sale was “nothing short of momentous for the whisky industry as a whole.”
“The Macallan 1926 is one whisky that every auctioneer wants to sell and every collector wants to own,” Fowle added.
Banner photo from Smithsonian Magazine via Sotheby’s.
