An auction in Sotheby’s, London revealed The Macallan 1926 valued at Kshs 409 million (USD 2.7 million) as the most expensive alcohol in the world.
The Macallan 1926 has always been recognized as the most sought-after Scotch whisky, as illustrated by an auction held at Sotheby’s auction house in 2019.
As such, The Macallan 1926 set a new auction record for any bottle of wine or spirit.
In 2019 another bottle of the whisky sold at Kshs287.9 million (USD 1.9m) in an auction.
With this whisky’s impressive history, it became one of the most sought-after bottles by collectors and auctioneers.
The head of Whiskey at Sotheby’s, Jonny Fowle confirmed the fact noting that The Macallan 1926 is the one whisky that every auctioneer wants to sell, and every collector wants to own.
Why the Whiskey Valued Highly at the Auction
Nevertheless, there are several facts setting this high value for the highly sought-after scotch whisky.
For starters, The Macallan 1926 was aged in sherry casks for sixty years. The cask labelled #263 in 1926 was made of a Spanish oak sherry hogshead specially designed to bring out the best of the malt.
This is why the Kshs 409 million worth whisky is dubbed Macallan 1926.
However, only forty bottles of the whisky were made in 1986, representing the oldest Macallan vintage ever produced.
According to reports, these 40 bottles were not made available for sale, and instead, some were offered to Macallan’s top clients.
Therefore, when these bottles appeared in auction houses, it was no surprise that the appearance of the whisky brought extraordinary bidding results with record-breaking prices.
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Details of the Valuable Whisky
Notably, the bottle of this whisky are painstakingly and uniquely designed, hence adding to its value.
Additionally, Sotheby’s confirmed that the forty Macallan 1926 bottles from the 1926 cask had been labelled in diverse ways.
Twelve of the bottles, including the one sold Saturday, November 18 had labels specially hand designed by an Italian painter who is associated with the Pop Art movement, Valerio Adami.
However, two of the whiskey bottles had no labels at all.
Also, a maximum of fourteen of the bottles were decorated with iconic Fine and Rare labels whereas twelve were labelled by English pop artist Sir Peter Blake
One is said to have been destroyed in an earthquake in Japan in 2011. It also believed that at least one other has been opened and consumed.
To satisfy the curiosity of many, Macallan’s Master Whisky Maker Kirsteen Campbell hinted at the taste and smells emitted by the whisky.
She said it contained notes of rich dark fruits, black cherry compote alongside sticky dates, followed by intense sweet antique oak.
“Dark chocolate, treacle, ginger … the notes go on and on,” Kirsteen Campbel stated at the auction.
Additionally, she noted that she was honored to witness the opening of the well-aged malt.
“It was a very special moment to experience the opening of this iconic 60 Years Old single malt, first bottled 37 years ago, and I hope the new custodian will enjoy the same privilege,” she added.
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The Bottle Goes for More than the Estimated Price
The auction of the bottle was announced in late October, attracting interested bidders from all over the world.
It was estimated that the rare bottle would fetch between Kshs 141 million (£750,000) and Kshs226 million (£1.2 million).
However, some experts suggested that the bottle would sell for far above the estimated value.
This was due to the demand created by the few bottles available. Additionally, Jonny Fowle said it was because the alcohol was a single malt.
Notably, a single malt is a whisky unblended with any other malt.
“Single malt is still a very new category for collectors – it’s been around for just 40 years and only properly collectable for the last 10, so we are seeing a natural of migration of interest from buyers around the world that is increasing year-on-year,” Jonny Fowle noted.
