The Macallan releases oldest ever malt

Scotch whisky distillery The Macallan has unveiled a new collection of old single malts aged from 40 to 78 years, the latter being the oldest malt ever released by the distillery.

‘The Red Collection’ is a series of six whiskies aged 40, 50, 60, 71, 74 and 78 years, the final malt being the oldest spirit The Macallan has ever released.

The Spanish artists Javi Aznarez, has designed labels for just two sets of these bottles, one which will remain in The Macallan’s archives and a second which will be sold by Sotheby’s this Halloween at its spirits sale.

The complete six-bottle set will be offered by the auctioneer as part of its whisky-focused sale at the end of this month with an estimated price of £200,000 to £800,000.

Proceeds from the sale will be donated to City Harvest to help raise funds for the food charity which redistributes surplus food to vulnerable people across London.

Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s spirits specialist, said: “We are thrilled to partner with The Macallan to offer The Red Collection, alongside our second offering of The Ultimate Whisky Collection, as part of our inaugural Halloween Spirits sale. This is the only opportunity for whisky collectors to own a truly special Red Collection set with labels hand-signed by Javi Aznarez.

“This unique event also marks our third charity-related partnership with The Macallan in recent years, following record-breaking prices for The Macallan M Constantine and The Macallan in Lalique Legacy Collection in Hong Kong.

“We look forward to continuing this success with the sale of The Red Collection, the proceeds of which will benefit City Harvest London, which has enabled quality surplus food to be redistributed for free to those unable to access food during COVID, providing support for vulnerable people across the city.”