An incredibly rare bottle of Macallan whisky could break world records when it sells at auction this week.
Perth-based sellers hope the sought-after bottle could fetch as much as £1.2 million.
The Macallan 1926 Fine and Rare 60-Year-Old is one of nearly 4,000 bottles being sold online by the Fair City’s Whisky Auctioneer.
The so-called “perfect collection” is the biggest of its kind to go to auction and was built and nurtured by the late Richard Gooding, a private collector from Colorado.
Mr Gooding was the former owner and president of the Pepsi Bowling Co of Denver, one of the largest soft drink distributors in the US.
After his death in 2014, his family arranged with the Whisky Auctioneer to sell them off over two separate auctions.
The first part of the sale drew interest from 1,642 bidders from 56 countries. A total of 1,932 bottles achieved a price of £3,290,000.
The Perth firm hopes there will be even more interest in the second part of the sale with potential buyers from around the globe stuck indoors.
The Macallan is one of 40 bottles produced from the famous cask number 263 in 1986, and only 14 were labelled as part of the Moray distillery’s exclusive “Fine and Rare” collection.
Dubbed “the world’s most sought-after whisky”, the 750ml bottle is valued at £1-1.2 million – the world-record hammer price for a bottle of Scotch, which was set last year by one from the same batch.
Bidding stood at £525,000 on Tuesday, with the auction set to close on Monday.
Whisky Auctioneer founder Iain McClune said: “The Perfect Collection auction is a once in a lifetime opportunity for collectors, investors and whisky lovers to acquire a piece of whisky history.
“They will find many bottles that have never, or rarely, been seen on the secondary market.”
He said: “With the current situation requiring so many of us to stay at home, the beauty of Whisky Auctioneer, unlike traditional auction houses, is that we bring the opportunity of this magnificent collection of whisky to you wherever you may be.
“It is so easy to get involved anywhere in the world by bidding from the comfort of your own home on your laptop or phone, with something for all ranges of budgets – from a hundred to over a million pounds – a truly accessible auction for all those who have an interest in whisky.”
