Macallan miniature sells for £3,000

A miniature bottle of 1937 The Macallan single malt has been sold for £3,300 at an auction in Glasgow; three times its pre-sale high estimate.

The 32-year-old Macallan was distilled in 1937 and bottled in 1969. Sold at auctioneer McTear’s sale in Glasgow on 6 July, it had been expected to fetch £800-£1,000.

The auctioneer reported that as bidding started on the miniature it became clear there were collectors from around the world keen to get their hands on it.

Graeme Maxwell, whisky expert for McTear’s, said: “We are delighted with price achieved for the bottle.   The Macallan 1937 Fine & Rare, which was rebottled in 2002, has never come to auction before so we knew it would attract a lot of interest.  It was an extremely lively auction and after some fierce bidding the lot was eventually sold online to a collector in Italy.”

As reported previously by the drinks business, the rare whisky auction market in the UK is booming and has exceeded the £25 million mark as value sales grew by a staggering 76% last year.

Some 83,713 bottles of whisky were sold at auction in Britain last year, achieving an average bottle price of £299, though the top lots sold for much more.