Rare Macallan whiskey bottle sells for record $2.7 million at auction

The price tag will make you woozy.

A rare bottle of 1926 Macallan Adami single-malt whiskey sold for a whopping $2.7 million after a bidding war at a Sotheby’s auction in London on Saturday — a record for a single bottle of wine or spirits.

The bottle of Scotch, described by experts as “the most sought-after” whiskey in the world, is one of just 40 that were bottled in 1986 after spending 60 years aging in sherry casks and features unique labels designed by Italian painter Valerio Adami.

“The Macallan 1926 is the one whiskey that every auctioneer wants to sell and every collector wants to own,” said Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s head of spirits, adding that the sale was “nothing short of momentous for the whisky industry as a whole.”

Kirsteen Campbell, Macallan’s master whiskey maker, described the upscale liquor as having notes of “rich dark fruits, black cherry compote alongside sticky dates, followed by intense, sweet antique oak.

“The notes go on and on,” Campbell said. “It was a very special moment to experience the opening of this iconic 60-year-old single malt, first bottled 37 years ago, and I hope the new custodian will enjoy the same privilege.”

The intoxicating sale price, which was driven up by a back-and-forth bidding war among collectors on the phone and on the auction floor, flew well past the expected price tag of under $1.5 million.

Saturday’s auction shattered the previous record for a single-malt bottle, which was held by a Macallan bottle from the same cask that fetched $1.5 million in a sale in 2019.

With Post wires