A cask of Macallan whisky forgotten about by its owner for almost 34 years has smashed the world record after its price hit £915,500.
The cask refill butt #4180 was originally filled with spirit on May 5 1988, and held in the Speyside distillery.
The expat owner of the whisky had to be reminded of his ownership of the cask, after buying the cask for £5,000 on a whim.
Daniel Milne of Whisky Hammer.
Bidding war
The bidding war for the 374-litre refill butt was the highlight of more than 2,000 lots offered in Whisky Hammer’s online auction which closed last night.
Daniel Milne, co-founder and managing director of the specialist auction service, said: “Casks of this age and size are extremely rare, especially from The Macallan.
The Macallan 1988 cask beat the record set by Bonham’s for the sale of a 30-year-old re-racked sherry hogshead from Macallan, which fetched nearly £340,000.
If bottled today it would yield 534 70cl bottles of 33-year-old whisky.
