The Million Dollar Dram
What’s the biggest bar tab you’ve ever run up? Whatever it is, the hammer price of this Macallan 1926 Valerio Adami 60 Year is bound to make you feel better about it.
words by Will HALBERT
As far as communities dedicated to the collection of the world’s rarest commodities and covetables go, you don’t get a more dedicated crowd than the whisky aficionados. Sure, there are your watch enthusiasts, but there’s something about the finite (not to mention drinkable) nature of whiskey that makes its collectable status all the more intense.
Take this bottle of Macallan 1926 Valerio Adami 60 Year Old, for instance. With a hammer price of $1,072,000 (£825,000), it has just broken the current world record for the highest ever sale price for this rare, iconic whisky. Not within the four walls of some auction house, you understand, but online. Indeed, this record breaking achievement comes hand in hand with another world first: Whisky Auctioneer, the online auction house behind the sale, has become the first online whisky auction to sell a million dollar bottle. No mean feat.
The Macallan in question is a rare beast indeed. A literal and metaphorical work of art to be sure, a mere 12 individually numbered bottles were produced, each with a specially designed label by artist Valerio Adami. Each bottle offers a slice (or should I say, dram) of whisky history.
The auction, which saw the participation of 1642 bidders from across 56 different countries, set an impressive benchmark for both Whisky Auctioneer and the secondary whisky market at large. More importantly, though. It provided a rare glimpse into the passion, dedication, and tenacity of the whisky collecting community. EJ
