The Most Expensive Whiskies Ever Sold at Auction
Have diamonds lost their lustre? Have luxury cars been parked for good? Probably not. But whisk(e)y - the water of life, the golden nectar - has become something of a new gold standard in luxury markets around the world.
While we're sure many of us here look forward to cracking open a bottle of our favourite drams to enjoy a neat pour, or to mix up one of the best whisk(e)y cocktails, others prefer to keep theirs as either an investment or a prized possession. And we can understand why - after all, whether it's a limited-time release or a rare bottling from a now-silent distillery, getting hold of some expressions of the golden spirit can be like catching gold dust.
Whether you’ve got dreams of starting a luxury whisk(e)y collection of your own or you just want to sit back, pour out a dram and escape into a window of how the other half live, these are the top 10 most expensive whiskies ever sold at auction.
The top 10 most expensive whiskies
Proof that whisk(e)y really is the leader of the pack when it comes to modern luxury, the record sales keep being broken. The record for the most expensive whisk(e)y in the world was set in Autumn 2023… and was then set again in early 2024.
*Malts.com is a Diageo website. The products featured in this article are not affiliated or associated with Diageo. All figures and facts correct as of June 2025.
10
Macallan Peter Blake 1926 60 YO, approx. £751,000 - 2019
Macallan distillers teamed up with Sir Peter Blake, perhaps best known for his design of the album cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, to recreate some of that magic on a label of their 1926 malt.
In May 2018, one of the 12 The Macallan Peter Blake 1926 60 YO bottles came up for auction at Bonhams in Hong Kong and sold for £751,703.
09
Macallan makes another appearance on this list, with this hallowed Scotch whisky featuring the artwork of Italian pop star Valerio Adami.
With only twelve bottles originally produced, it is rumoured that one was destroyed during an earthquake in Japan, making the bottles even more sought after. When one went up for auction in 2020, over 1600 bidders from all over the globe took part. The winning bid was from a private collector in Europe.
08
The Decades No.6 Collection brought together a rarefied selection of six landmark releases from 1951, 1967, 1979, 1980, 1995, and 2000. The unmissable collection was chosen by The Dalmore’s iconic master distiller, Richard Paterson.
The six whiskies were bought by a private collector when they went up for auction in Sotheby’s Asia.
07
In 2011, Macallan created the largest bottle of whisky ever released: The Intrepid. Measuring 5 feet and eleven inches, the bottle holds approximately 311 litres of whisky.
It sold for auction in Edinburgh for around £1.1 million (making it just over £3500 per litre).
06
Glenfiddich, the 1950 collection, approx. £1.1M - 2021
In 2021, a collection of four whiskies preserved in a special case went up for auction at the Distillers’ One of One auction. The collection included four expressions of the Scotch whisky from 1955, 1957, 1958 and 1959, representing the last casks from Glenfiddich’s 1950 stocks.
The collection also included decanters that had been hand blown by Baccarat with a 24-carat gold neck and were encased in a high-tech cabinet designed by NEJ Stevenson.
05
Hand-painted by the Irish artist Michael Dillon, this unique, one-of-a-kind bottle was first released in 1999.
Snapped up by luxury London retailer, Fortnum & Mason, the bottle remained unseen until it went on auction in 2018, where fans could see the artist’s rendering of the Macallan Speyside estate’s cherished Easter Elchies House.
It became the first whisky to surpass the one-million-pound mark at auction, selling for approximately £1.2m (around $1.53 million).
04
While it might seem like a case of déjà vu, Macallan was once again the record-holder of the most expensive whisky back in 2019.
Selling for $1.9 million (approximately £1.49 million), the bottle of the rare 1926 whisky came with the original distillery label. It is considered the one that started it all when it comes to the Macallan Fine and Rare collection, one of the most coveted whisky collections.
03
Another trip back to the Emerald Isle in third place, when – appropriately – on St Patrick’s Day 2021, the Emerald Isle Collection in partnership with Fabergé sold for $2 million (approximately £1.5 million).
One of the world leaders in fine jewellery and collectibles, Fabergé is coveted as one of the pinnacles of luxury. With this 2021 sale, the whiskey came with an 18k gold and emerald Fabergé Celtic Egg and 22k gold Fabergé timepiece encased in rose gold with sapphire crystals.
02
1926 Macallan, £2.1M - 2023
Spare a thought for a rare 1926 Macallan vintage – it held the record for the most expensive bottle of whisky (£2.1M) in November 2023, but had that title snatched from it mere months later.
The bottle of Macallan 1926 went for the eye-watering amount at a Sotheby’s auction in London. The Adami 1926 is the oldest Macallan vintage ever produced.
01
The most expensive whiskey in history - The Emerald Isle, approx. £2.2M - 2024
In 2024, a bottle of The Emerald Isle from the Craft Irish Whiskey Co. sold at auction and set a new world record.
Sold to American collector Mr Mike Daley, who offered up a staggering $2.8 million bid for the whiskey. This translates to approximately £2.2 million, just surpassing the sale of the 1926 Macallan a year earlier.
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