A rare bottle of Macallan 1926 has sold for a staggering £2.1 million at Sotheby’s, breaking the record for the most expensive spirit ever sold at auction. 

We reported in October that this rare whisky, for which only 40 bottles were produced had an estimated sell price of £1.2 million, but the winning bid at nearly double the price took everyone by surprise.

This whisky had undergone some extensive reconditioning prior to the auction, which Macallan undertook themselves. The operation to restore the bottle saw the capsule and cork being replaced, new glue being applied to the corners of the labels and a 1ml sample being taken to test against another 1926 bottle that Macallan own. 

Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s head of whisky was allowed to taste a ‘tiny drop’, he said it was extremely rich and had lots of dried fruit and spice as you would expect.