Rare whisky cask breaks world record

Macallan sells for £440k in Hong Kong auction

An “exceedingly rare” cask of 30-year-old Macallan whisky yesterday set a new world record after selling for more than £440,000 at auction in Hong Kong.

The European sherry hogshead cask was filled in 1989 at the Macallan Distillery in Moray, where it has remained ever since.

Now being stored in the distillery’s warehouse near Aberlour, the cask number 6980 is expected to produce 261 bottles valued at around £1,700 each.

The cask went under the hammer at Bonhams’ sale of “fine and rare wine and whisky”, where it fetched the world record price.

Daniel Lam, Bonhams’ director of wine and spirits, Asia, said: “Not only has this 30-year-old cask set the new world auction record for a whisky cask, but it is also the most expensive per-bottle cask ever sold at auction.”

One of the oldest casks of its kind, the whisky was distilled on May 3 1989.

Never moved from the Speyside distillery, it can be stored there for as long as the new owner wishes for £250 per year, or bottled.

The new world record is the latest in a series of top whisky prices set by Macallan whiskies recently.

Last month, a rare bottle of Macallan Fine and Rare 1926 60-year-old whisky set a new world record for a bottle of Scotch whisky at auction when it sold for £1.452 million at Sotheby’s in London.

The previous record was another bottle of Macallan 1926, hand-painted by Irish artist Michael Dillon, sold at Christie’s for £1.2m.

A collection of 46 miniature bottles of Macallan Fine and Rare whisky recently set the record for 5cl drams when it fetched nearly £340,000 – equivalent to nearly £7,400 each.

Rare Scotch whisky was named the top luxury investment – above coins, watches, classic cars and art – in the latest annual Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index (KFLII).

The report revealed that Scotch surged in value by 23% over the 12 months to the end of June, ahead of coins (12%) and art (10%).

“Most expensive per-bottle cask ever sold at auction”

SCOTCH: Stored at the Macallan Distillery’s warehouse, the cask number 6980 is expected to yield 261 bottles valued at around £1,700 each