In 2023 a bottle of Macallan 1926 60 Year Old, with a label designed by the Italian artist Valerio Adami, became the most expensive bottle of whisky in the world when it sold for £2,187,500 / $2,714,25. The previous record (£1.45 million / $1.9 million) was also a bottle of Macallan 1926 60 Year Old, but with the Fine and Rare label. And the record before that…? You guessed it, another Macallan 1926, this time with a hand painted label by British Artist Michael Dillon that sold for £1.2 million to become the first single bottle of whisky to sell for over the million pound milestone.
That’s all very nice for the marketing team at Macallan. But can the world’s most expensive whisky tell us anything useful about investing in whisky?
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The World’s Most Expensive Whisky
The Macallan 1926 60 year old is not only the world’s most expensive whisky, it has also held the record more times than any other bottle.
The first record for the most expensive bottle of whisky was set in 1983 by a bottle of Macallan 50 year old Anniversary Malt. The record has been broken just 15 times since then. In fact, over the last 40 years Macallan has held the record ten times, for a total of 24 years. Other than the first record for the Macallan Anniversary Malt 50 year old, the other nine records have been set by the five variations of bottles from cask #263.
It’s easy to dismiss that it’s down to the age or vintage of the bottle, or the limited number of bottles from the cask. But there are other comparable bottles from the era, and older whiskies that sell for much less. Macallan’s dominance at the very top end of the collectors market, and specifically the success of the 1926 bottle, can give us some interesting insights into the world of whisky investing and collecting.
Age Isn’t Everything In Whisky Investment
The Macallan also holds the record for the oldest whisky in the world; The Reach is an 81-year-old expression distilled in 1940. The Reach is more than 20 years older than the world record holding 1926, however a recent sale for the 81 year old was £190,000 (HKD 1,875,000) in April 2024. Which shows that it is more than simply age that generates value with whisky.
It would be easy to think that early vintage makes the difference here. However, 1926 is not the earliest whisky in the world either. There are vintage releases from other distilleries that pre-date it, from the Springbank 1919 to various bottles from the 19th century, which don’t even get near the £1 million mark.
Rarity and Brand
The first bottle to surpass the million pound (not dollar) threshold was The Macallan 1926 60 year old featuring a unique hand-painted label by Michael Dillon, this one-of-one bottle fetched £1.2 million ($1.5 million) in 2018. This was followed six months later by a sale of the same bottle but with the Fine and Rare label, which sold for £1.45 million in 2019.
The Fine and Rare series wasn’t launched until 2002, whereas the 60 year old was first bottled in 1986. The 2019 record holding bottle is actually a rebottling of unsold stock and while the other editions were of 12 or one, there are believed to be up to 14 of the Fine and Rare version. Still a very limited edition by general standards, but the most readily available of the five editions of this series.
This shows us two interesting things about the perception of the whisky market. Firstly, rarity is not the ultimate driver. Secondly, it can show us how the presentation of a brand on a bottle can become important. While the Michael Dillon bottle is a unique piece of artwork it requires an understanding of the series to portray status, which the recognisable Fine and Rare label does not.
Of course, saying it is, or is not, any singular property that imparts perceived value to any item is a simplification. Instead it is a combination of factors, both the physical properties of the bottle and just as importantly, the market at the time, which gives an item or bottle its value. It is the ability to recognise what combination of factors the market will want in the future that allows us to make educated decisions around potential investments.
Spotting Undervalued Assets
The current world record marks the fourth time the Valerio Adami version has been the most expensive whisky in the world, but it was the first time this particular version had broken the million pound mark. A Valerio Adami bottle first held the record from 1996 to 2001, then in 2018 it broke the record twice, but until 2023 it had never sold for more than £925,000.
There were originally 12 hand numbered bottles released with the Valerio Adami label. The current record is held by bottle number 12, which was last seen at auction in 2020, when it sold at an online specialist auction for £825,000 (not including buyer’s premium).
It is important to note that the images of the 2020 sale show the capsule with significant wear and splitting around the seal. The buyer has therefore obviously invested in the bottle. The listing for the latest sale clearly states that they had worked with Macallan to have it reconditioned.
The takeaway is that in 2020 the original buyer saw an undervalued asset. They used their knowledge and connections to move that bottle from unremarkable to world record holding.
The Macallan 1926 can help us understand the combination of factors needed to give bottles the potential for long term growth. The most recent sale also emphasises the benefits to be had from taking on undervalued assets within the market.
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A Money Can’t Buy Asset For All Investments
The final takeaway to note from the latest sale leads on from the previous point: the buyer purchased the bottles in February 2020 and they waited four years to resell it. One thing that money cannot buy is time, and in an increasingly instantaneous world patience in investing can be difficult to master.
Whisky bottles work best as a medium to long term asset. Ideally plan for a five year or longer hold when thinking about buying whisky as an investment. And of course, always remember that the whisky market is like any other; values can go down as well as up. So please don’t invest anything that you can’t afford to lose in a worst case scenario.
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