For those who appreciate refined spirits, a bottle of “the most sought after Scotch whiskey in the world” was sold for more than £2.1 million (R$13.2 million) on Saturday (18), at Sotheby’s in London.
O Macallan 1926 It is among only 40 bottles withdrawn after aging in sherry casks for 60 years, making it the oldest vintage Macallan ever produced, according to the auction house.
Sotheby’s had hoped to raise between £750,000 and £1.2 million, but was shocked when the valuable bottle fetched £2,187,500, setting “a new record for any bottle of spirits or wine auctioned,” the auction house told news agency AFP.
This bottle of Macallan 1926 is one of 12 with labels created by Italian painter Valerio Adami . Before the auction, Sotheby’s head of whiskey Jonny Fowle told AFP he tasted a small sample.
“I tasted a small drop – a small drop – of it. It’s very rich, there’s a lot of dried fruit as you would expect, a lot of spice, a lot of wood,” he said, calling it an “incredible” whiskey that should not be underestimated.
Of the 40 bottles filled in 1986, none were available for purchase, with some being gifted to Macallan’s top customers, a luxury that adds to its appeal, as evidenced by previous sales of the bottles, its description on the Sotheby’s website added.
In 2019, Sotheby’s sold a bottle of Macallan 1926 adorned with one of the 14 Fine and Rare labels for £1.5 million (R$9.2 million), making it at the time the most expensive bottle of wine or spirits ever auctioned.
Saturday’s sale was for one of 12 bottles covered with a label designed by Italian painter Valerio Adami, one of which is also believed to have been destroyed during the 2011 Japanese earthquake.
This bottle is also the first of the Macallan 1926 having undergone reconditioning, carried out by the Macallan distillery in Scotland before the auction. Another 12 were labeled by pop artist Sir Peter Blake, while the remaining two were released unlabeled.
Of those not labeled, one was hand painted by the Irish artist Michael Dillon and became the first bottle of whiskey to exceed £1 million when it sold in 2018 for £1.2 million, the auction house said on its website.
Translated by Iasmin Paiva; edited by Raquel Cintra Pryzant
Source: CNN Brasil
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