Bottle of luxury Scotch whisky sells for over $2M at auction, breaking records
Sotheby's oversaw the sale as part of its international "Weekend of Whisky" event
A bottle of Scotch whisky barreled in 1926 and bottled in 1986 sold at auction for over $2 million, shattering records for spirits of its kind.
The bottle of Macallan 1926 sold for a staggering $2.1 million on Saturday, far surpassing organizers' expected selling price.
Sotheby's, the historic auction house that oversaw the sale, originally expected the bottle to sell somewhere between $934,000 and $1.4 million.
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After being aged in sherry casks for six decades, just 40 bottles of the Macallan 1926 were bottled in 1986. (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby's)
At that price point, the whiskey is worth approximately $131,000 per shot.
Only 40 bottles of Macallan 1926 have ever been produced, and they are not for sale. Instead, the 40 luxury bottles of Scotch whisky have been distributed as gifts to clients and top customers of the distillery.
Sotheby's previously sold a bottle of the elusive liquor in 2019, when it was purchased for $1.9 million — a record price held until Saturday.
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Sotheby's Global Head of Spirits, Jonny Fowle, poses with a bottle of Macallan 1926 Adami, the world's most valuable whisky, during a photocall at Sotheby's auction house in London, United Kingdom before it sold for over $2 million. The bottle was of (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"The Macallan 1926 has always been recognized as the most sought-after Scotch whisky, as illustrated by the sum of £1.5m ($1.9m) achieved by Sotheby’s in 2019, for the Fine & Rare version, which set a new auction record for any bottle of wine or spirit," the auction house wrote ahead of the auction.
The bottle was the first of its kind to undergo a restoration process overseen by the Macallan distillery in Scotland.
A selection of bottles from the most valuable collection of Japanese whisky ever to be offered at auction at Sotheby's is shown in London, England. (Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby's / Getty Images)
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The Macallan 1926 was only one of dozens of whiskies that went up for auction at Sotheby's this month.
The event, titled the "Weekend of Whisky," brought together collections of the most exclusive and expensive spirits from around the world.