A bottle of the Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 has just been sold for a new record of £848,750 at Bonhams Edinburgh, obliterating the previous record of another bottle of The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926, which was sold for £814,081 (HK$8.63m) in May in Hong Kong this year. The bottle offered at the Edinburgh sale was sold to a telephone bidder, who is reported to be a private collector in Asia. 

The whisky was distilled in 1926 and bottled in 1986. Back in 1992, Macallan commissioned two world famous pop artists, Peter Blake and Valerio Adami, to design labels for the very limited edition of 24 bottles. Only 12 bottles of each label were made, and they were gifted to Macallan's most valuable customers.
 

Italian Pop Art artist Valerio Adami

In May this year, two bottles of Macallan 60-year-old whisky with label respectively designed by Peter Blake and Valerio Adami were offered at Bonhams Hong Kong. The one with a label designed by Peter Blake was sold for HK$7.96m while the Valerio Adami bottle was sold for HK$8.63m (£814,081), setting the then record for any whisky sold at auction.

Although 12 bottles of The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 were produced, it is not known how many of them still exist. One is said to have been destroyed in an earthquake in Japan in 2011, and it is believed that at least one of them has been opened and drunk.

Estimated at £700,000-900,000, the present one offered at the sale was bought by a vendor direct from the Macallan distillery for an undisclosed sum in 1994. It was sold at Bonhams Edinburgh for a record-setting £848,750.

Bonhams now holds the record for the three most valuable bottles of whisky ever sold at auction. The auction house is going to hold the Fine & Rare Wine and Whisky this November in Hong Kong. Please stay tuned.

 Most Expensive Bottle of Whisky

The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60-year-old

Lot no.: 86
Estimate: £700,000 - 900,000
Price realised: £848,750

Auction house: Bonhams Edinburgh
Sale: Whisky Sale
Sale date: 2018/10/3