‘The Most Desirable Bottle of Whisky Ever’ Is Heading to Auction — and Could Fetch Over $1 Million
The Macallan 1926, cited by Sotheby’s as “The World’s Most Valuable Whisky,” is going up for auction on Nov. 18. (Photo: Sotheby’s)
On Thursday, auction house Sotheby’s unveiled the listing of a rare bottle of The Macallan 1926, considered one of the “most sought-after” whiskies in the world. Just 40 bottles exist, and the last time one went up for auction, it broke records and sold for the price of $1.9 million, according to the auction house.
Aged for 60 years in sherry casks, The Macallan 1926 is the oldest vintage from the Speyside distillery. Per Sotheby’s, the bottles were not available for public purchase and were instead offered to top clients of The Macallan. The label for this particular offering was painted by an Italian artist named Valerio Adami.
Sotheby’s estimates the whisky will sell for between £750,000 ($911,000) and £1.2 million ($1.46 million).
The whisky is unusual in that it was reconditioned by The Macallan Distillery. The capsule and cork were replaced, in addition to a new coat of glue being applied to the corners of the label. A 1-milliliter sample was taken and tested side-by-side with another bottle at the distillery’s parent company, Edrington’s offices in Glasgow.
“The Macallan 1926 is the one whisky that every auctioneer wants to sell and every collector wants to own,” said Johnny Fowle, Sotheby’s global head of spirits. “I am extremely excited to bring a bottle to a Sotheby’s auction for the first time since we set the record for this vintage four years ago.”
Interested parties can bid starting Nov. 1, ahead of the official auction date in London on Nov. 18.
Out of all 40 bottles drawn from the cask in 1986, 14 were “Fine & Rare” editions — including the one that sold for $1.9 million. Two bottles were released without labels, instead sporting paintings. One of them was painted by Irish artist Michael Dillon and went under the hammer in 2018, becoming the first whisky to sell for more than £1 million ($1.2 million).
Twelve of the bottles hosted labels designed by pop artist Sir Peter Blake. In 1993, 12 more bottles — including the one slated to go up for auction in November — were given labels made by Adami.
According to The Annex Galleries, Adami was born in Bologna, Italy in 1935. He specializes in the Abstract Expressionist genre and spends his time in Paris and Lake Maggiore, Italy.
Out of all the Adami-labeled bottles, Sotheby’s claims that one of these bottles was purported to have been destroyed during a major earthquake in Japan in 2011, further adding to the rarity of the expression.
“Working alongside our friends at The Macallan Distillery to recondition and perform clinical analysis on this bottle of liquid has elevated it to an unparalleled status,” Fowle concluded. “Now, as the bedrock for all Macallan 1926 authenticity and with its condition approved by master distiller Kristen Campbell, this must surely be the most desirable bottle of whisky ever to come to market.”
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