The Macallan The Attain 81 12 months outdated whisky bought for $270,487 at Sotheby’s, London on October fifth. (Picture courtesy Sotheby’s)
A one-of-one version of the Macallan The Attain 81 12 months outdated, the world’s oldest whisky, achieved a hammer value of £240,000/$270,487 at Sotheby’s, London in a particular single lot public sale on October 5th. An nameless UK collector made the profitable bid, making this the oldest whisky ever bought at public sale. It was consigned instantly from the distillery, with proceeds set to profit the Macallan Artisan Apprentice Fund.
The earlier report holder for the oldest whisky bought at public sale was the world’s first 80 12 months outdated whisky, Gordon & MacPhail’s Generations 80 12 months outdated distilled at Glenlivet. Aged one 12 months lower than The Attain with solely 250 bottles launched, its decanter No.1 was auctioned by Sotheby’s, Hong Kong on October 7, 2021, reaching a hammer value of HK$1.2 million/$154,158. The proceeds of each gross sales raised cash for charitable causes.
So what distinction did a 12 months make? Properly, $116,330 apparently; the distinction within the hammer value between the world’s first 80 12 months outdated whisky and the world’s first 81 12 months outdated whisky. However why? First, the Macallan is the world’s most collectible whisky and the primary and solely distillery to interrupt 1,000,000 {dollars} for a single bottle at public sale. The presentation of each whiskies function high-end design and craftmanship, however the sculptural components of The Attain give it higher kind as art work over the Gordon & MacPhail bottling.
This sale occurred at a time when some whisky public sale homes had been seeing a major rise within the variety of unsold bottles at their auctions, making the end result all of the extra exceptional. When the Gordon & MacPhail Generations 80 12 months outdated was auctioned in October 2021, it was arguably a extra crowded market. The day after the Glenlivet 80 12 months outdated fetched $154,158, Sotheby’s held a profitable sale of the one set of the Dalmore A long time The No. 6 Assortment for a hammer value simply shy of $900,000, for instance.
The Macallan The Attain 81 12 months outdated, 41.6% ABV, was launched in February 2022 at a value of $125,000 per bottle, having been nurtured for generations since its distillation 12 months in 1940. Macallan launched 288 bottles, every cradled by three palms solid in bronze by sculptor Saskia Robinson in a case crafted from the wooden of an outdated elm that had fallen on the Macallan property. The one-of-one version bought at public sale had a pink leather-based lining for its case, whereas all of the others had been cream-colored.
This public sale competitiveness between significantly aged whiskies is much from over, as a number of the greatest names in scotch try and protect dwindling shares of very outdated liquid inside historical casks with a purpose to convey forth ever older whiskies. By the center of the 21st century, we might face the prospect of seeing the world’s first whisky aged for a century, leaving us to marvel what that one shall be value?
