A bottle of 96-year-old single malt from Macallan is set to go up for auction in November, and it could become one of the most expensive rare whiskey bottles ever sold.
According to the Associated Press, the bottle of Macallan Adami 1926 is set to be sold via Sotheby’s in London on November. 18, with advanced bidding opening on November 1. The bottle, the AP noted, could go as far north as $1.4 million.
“The Macallan 1926 is the one whisky that every auctioneer wants to sell, and every collector wants to own,” Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s global head of spirits, shared with the AP. “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.”
In 2019, another bottle of Macallan 1926 went up for auction, fetching about $1.8 million, The Guardian reported. The Guardian additionally did the math, noting that if this latest bottle hits the $1.4 million it’s expected to earn, a single 25 ml shot would be worth about $48,000.
Why such a high price? The BBC explained that the cask was distilled in 1926 and bottled in 1986. However, just 40 bottles were produced, and none were made available for purchase. Instead, they were offered as gifts to the brand’s top clients. Of the 40 bottles, an estimated 14 were decorated with Macallan’s Fine and Rare label, the AP explained, while 12 more, including the one being sold next month, had labels designed by Italian painter Valerio Adami. It is not known how many of the bottles remain, though the BBC reported one was allegedly destroyed in 2011 following an earthquake in Japan, and at least one is known to have been opened and consumed.
The bottle going on the auction block is also the first bottle to undergo reconditioning by the distillery, including having its cork replaced and glue reapplied to the corners of the label.
“Now, as the bedrock for all Macallan 1926 authenticity and with its condition approved by master distiller Kirsten Campbell,” Fowle added, “this must surely be the most desirable bottle of whisky ever to come to the market.”
