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The Macallan - The Malt: The Record Breaking Macallan; “The Definitive Guide To Buying Vintage Macallan”

A rare bottle of The Macallan 60 Years Old single Highland malt Scotch whisky sold for £20, 150*, the highest ever price paid for a single bottle of whisky, at an auction held at McTear's in Glasgow on Wednesday 17th April 2002. (*including VAT and buyer's premium)

The Blake Label | Detail


The Adami Label | Detail

 

The bottle was sold unlabelled to an anonymous collector and the lot price included the opportunity for the purchaser to design their own bespoke label. The whisky was originally filled into cask in 1926 at The Macallan distillery at Craigellachie, Speyside, and bottled at cask strength of 42.6% vol in 1986. It is one of only 40 bottles of The Macallan 60 Years Old and only the 26th bottle to be released for sale.

This is only the second time that an unlabelled bottle has been made available for sale: a bid of £15,000 was made when the first unlabelled bottle was auctioned in September 2001. The first 12 bottles were released in 1986 and featured a label designed by Sir Peter Blake, who designed the famous cover for the Beatles' album, "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". The second 12 bottles, released in 1993, featured a label designed by the Italian artist, Valerio Adami.


We are happy to offer future purchasers of the few remaining bottles of 1926 Macallan the opportunity to work with a designer to create their own bespoke label design.
THE MACALLAN DISTILLERS LTD.

 

1926 I Gertrude Ederle became the first person to swim the treacherous twenty-two-mile English Channel, taking fourteen hours and thirty-one
minutes. The first telephone calls were made between London and New York. 
Rudolph Valentino's last film 'The Son of The Sheik' was showing at cinemas. Clara Bow became the first ever "It Girl" and the Charleston was all the rage.

 

CASK TYPE

Hogshead

CASK No

263

NOSE

Rich dark dried fruits — raisins, dates and prunes with wonderfully woody spices (cloves) and treacle toffee.

 

PALATE

Robust resinous wood, sweetened with medium treacle toffee and rich dried fruits.

 

FINISH

Dryingwoodwith dark dried fruit and treacle toffee.

 

STRENGTH

42.6% Vol. Natural Cask Strength

COLOUR

Laburnum

TINT

72

YEAR BOTTLED

1986

AGE OF WHISKY

60 Years Old

 

DISTILLERY PRICE

 

BOTTLE SIZE 700ml

Not available in 700ml

BOTTLE SIZE 750ml

£20,000

 

BOTTLE SIZE 50ml

Not available in Miniature

TOTAL OUTTURN

 

40 Bottle Equivalents

 

 

 

1937 I During 1937 there were a few major technological breakthroughs. Charlie Chaplin's first 'talkie' movie, "Modern Times," was released. Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic and the first person to fly
solo from Hawaii to California, was presumed killed when her aircraft disappeared mysteriously over the Pacific. 

 

ORIGIN

Acquired in bottle from a private collection.

NOSE

Fresh apple fruits, floral and lemon citrus enriched with light ginger spices.
Good wood maturity balanced with peat smoke
 and dried fruits.

PALATE

Apple, lemon citrus wick hints of drying wood, warming and peaty.

FINISH

Balanced fruits. wood with lingering and drying peal smoke.

STRENGTH

43% Vol.

COLOUR

Oak

TINT

23

YEAR BOTTLED

First bottled in 1969

AGE OF WHISKY

32 Years Old

 

DISTILLERY PRICE

 

BOTTLE SIZE 700ml

£3,450

BOTTLE SIZE 750ml

£3,700

BOTTLE SIZE 50ml

£282

TOTAL OUTTURN

 

174 Bottle Equivalents

 

 

 

1938 I In the radio broadcast of the `War of the Worlds', Orson Welles created panic in America with a fear that Martians were actually invading Earth. Despite disclaimers that clearly identified it as a dramatisation (including several announcements), 'The War of the Worlds' broadcast, which resembled a series of news bulletins, was mistaken for actual news flashes.

 

ORIGIN

Acquired in bottle from a private collection.

NOSE

Soft and inviting with balanced apples and citrus orange, wood, peat and spices—this time ginger and nutty.

PALATE

Nutty, woody and peat smoke—a classic old Speysider

FINISH

Peaty smoke with apples and citrus orange with great balance and finesse.

STRENGTH

43% Vol.

COLOUR

Oak

TINT

20

YEAR BOTTLED

First bottled in 1973

AGE OF WHISKY

35 Years Old

 

DISTILLERY PRICE

 

BOTTLE SIZE 700ml

£3,500

BOTTLE SIZE 750ml

£3,750

BOTTLE SIZE 50ml

£285

TOTAL OUTTURN

 

48 Bottle Equivalents

 

 

 

1939 I Frank Sinatra did it his way and made his recording debut in this year. Nylon stockings first went on sale in the state of Delaware, and the perennial 
love story `Gone with the Wind' premiered. With help from University of
Chicago physicist Arthur Compton, General Electric invented fluorescent lighting, a new, efficient form of illumination.

 

ORIGIN

Acquired in bottle from a private collection.

 

NOSE

Orangey with rich dried fruits of prunes and dates. Treacle and vanilla toffees with light peat smoke and wood.

PALATE

Rich peat and powerful wood which gently dries the palate. Sweet toffees overlaid with fruits help reduce the dryness, resulting in greater balance.

FINISH

Drying finish of peat smokeandclassiclong term wood ageing with lighter fruits.

STRENGTH

43% Vol.

COLOUR

Rich Oak

TINT

27

YEAR BOTTLED

First bottled in 1979

AGE OF WHISKY

40 Years Old

 

DISTILLERY PRICE

 

BOTTLE SIZE 700ml

£4,000

BOTTLE SIZE 750ml

£4,290

BOTTLE SIZE 50ml

£320

TOTAL OUTTURN

 

54 Bottle Equivalents

 

 


Written by Brian Henningan

 

The text is an excerpt from "The Definitive Guide to Buying Vintage Macallan" (pp. 35 - 41), First Edition, published 2003 by Macallan Distillery Ltd.