A bottle of whisky – known as the “Holy Grail” – has sold for £1 million at auction.
The Macallan 1926 Fine And Rare 60-year-old single malt was one of 14 from the Moray distillery.
The whisky was put into cask number 263 – a Spanish oak sherry hogshead – in 1926.
It matured for 60 years before being bottled.
Only 40 bottles were made – including a dozen with labels designed by the renowned pop artist Sir Peter Blake.
He was co-creator of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover.
More than 3,900 bottles of single malt Scotch were up for auction online.
The “perfect collection” includes rare bottles from The Macallan, Bowmore, and Springbank distilleries.
Whisky Auctioneer in Perth described it as “the most extensive private collection we have seen in terms of the completeness of representation of 20th Century Scottish distilleries”.
The collection comes from an American businessman who died in 2014.
Richard Gooding, a bottling tycoon, spent more than 20 years amassing the whiskies.
His wife Nancy said: “It was clear to us as a family that collecting Scotch was one of Richard’s greatest passions – an endeavour that spanned over two decades.
“He loved every aspect of it; from researching the many single malt distilleries to visiting them and tasting their whiskies.
“He was always so pleased to acquire the bottles that he was searching for over the years.
“His mission was to collect a bottle that represented every single distillery, but his favourite was always Bowmore, with his preferred whisky being Black Bowmore.”
