World’s Most Expensive Liquor: Macallan 1926 Whiskey Sells for Historic $2.7 Million

An auction sold a century-old bottle of whiskey for $2.7 million, making it the “most expensive liquor” in the world.

The British BBC reported on the 19th (local time) that a bottle of single malt whiskey Macallan 1926 finally sold for £2,187,500 (about $2.7 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in London the previous day.

This includes the final auction price of £1.75 million plus the auction fee. The auction price also doubled the pre-auction estimate £750,000 to £1.2 million.

With this, the Macallan 1926 sold this time became the most expensive liquor ever sold in history, including wine and spirits. The previous record was Macallan 1926, auctioned for £1.5 million at Sotheby’s in 2019.

Distilled in 1926, Macallan 1926 aged for 60 years in a sherry oak barrel and was released as a vintage whiskey in 1986, limited to only 40 bottles. It is also the oldest among the vintage Macallan produced so far.

At that time, only a few bottles were provided to Macallan’s top customers. Sotheby’s reports that the 40 bottles were divided into several pieces, each with a different label, and the bottle sold this time featured a label designed by Italian artist Valerio Adami. They released only 12 bottles, but the Japanese earthquake in 2011 destroyed one, and someone consumed another, making it even rarer.

The Macallan 1926 sold at this time has undergone work, such as replacing the cork at the Macallan distillery and applying new adhesive to the edges of the label.

A Sotheby’s official tasted a ‘few drops’ of Macallan 1926 before the auction and expressed in an interview with AFP, “It was very rich, and as expected, it had the aroma of dried fruit, spices, and wood. This whiskey is not a light drink. It’s a whiskey with a rich and deep aroma. It’s unbelievable.”

By. Seo Hee Won