A Speyside whisky fanatic has struck gold after paying only £199 for a rare Macallan display case – which has now been valued at £138,600.
The antique once housed the most expensive dram in the world, The Macallan 1926 60 Year Old.
Only 40 bottles were produced in 1986, with one sold for a record-breaking £1.5million at auction in 2019.
Out of those, 12 featured labels designed by Sir Peter Blake, a further 12 were designed by Italian painter Valerio Adami, and one was painted by Irish artist Michael Dillon.
These special releases are even rarer and are sought after by whisky collectors – so when Fraser spotted The Macallan 1926 60 Year Old Valerio Adami Display Case on eBay, he snapped it up.
It is now believed there are just 10 bottles in existence with an Adami label due to them being lost, smashed or drunk.
One of those bottles is set to go under the hammer this month and is expected to reach up to £1.2million.
Window salesman Fraser told Business Manchester: “When checking eBay one day, I could not believe my own eyes.”
“The first image was a close-up of a tiny plaque, inscribed with four numerals: 1926.”
Life-changing valuation
Fraser said he “knew immediately” the case was an “original home for one of the fabled 1926 Macallan bottles” and paid £199 for it in 2003.
After a decade of holding onto the precious piece, he decided it was time to have it valued by an industry expert.
Whisky broker and merchant Mark Littler gave him the jaw-dropping evaluation.
He explained: “It’s an insane price for what is essentially an empty box.
“The only person that this would have that value to is the person that has the bottle but does not have a box.
“So it completes a set with the most sought-after bottle of whisky in the world.”
He added: “The fact remains that there may be a bottle out there which is lying there without the case which is dramatically undervalued as a result.
“Someone could theoretically make a case which looks exactly the same for a much smaller sum, but it would not have the integrity of being the original case for one of these bottles.
“If we can find that bottle that goes with it, then both parties can be happy.”
