Two bottles of rare 32-year-old whisky sold for Rs 14 crore

A 32-year-old bottle of single malt whisky was sold at a world record $1.1 million in Hong Kong last week.

The Bonhams auction house sold two of the “rarest” vintage Macallan bottles at above $1 million each. The bottles, not seen in public for over three decades, went under the hammer on May 18.

The first one to be auctioned, Macallan Peter Blake 1926 was sold for a record $1,014,422 to a phone bidder. An hour later, the record was broken by the Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 which was sold for $1,100,197 to a bidder present in the auction room. The identity of the bidders was not disclosed by Bonhams.

The price paid by the bidders makes one millilitre of the whisky worth $1,450.

"These two bottles are the most significant whiskies ever produced in 20th century and truly presented a once-in-a-generation opportunity for collectors to acquire the Holy Grail of Macallan," commented Daniel Lam, Head of Fine Wine and Whisky, Bonhams Asia, from the auction floor.

"Active bidding came in from around the world but we saw new bidders from Southeast Asia including Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia reflecting the growing appetite and appreciation for whisky among Asian collectors."

The record-breaking whisky was bottled in 1986, and Macallan commissioned Peter Blake and Valerio Adami to design labels for very limited editions, to offer as corporate gifts to the distillery's most valued customers. Only 24 bottles—12 of the Blake label and 12 of the Adami label—were ever produced.

The bottles are presented in specially commissioned cabinets or Tantaluses, based on the traditional 'Brass and Glass' distillery spirit safe.