After receiving worldwide bids, the Macallan butt was sold to a private investor from America on the auction site Whisky Hammer. With bidding ending at £915,500, the buyer paid £1,007,050 after auction fees. Surpassing the previous record, which was already an impressive £444,000 by some margin. The original investor, who purchased the Macallan, back in 1988 had forgotten about the cask until recently, allowing the Whisky to mature for an extraordinary thirty-three years.

“Scotch Whisky is once again making the headlines as a sound long-term investment. During the lifetime of this cask alone, we’ve seen financial crashes and major changes in the way people invest their money. Whisky Casks sales are continuing to set new records, and we look forward to sharing the success of the industry with our clients” – Alistair Moncrieff, Managing Partner of Whisky Investment Partners.

Reminded by the Macallan distillery, where the cask was laid, about his purchase, the investor explored various exit strategies before settling on auction. Recently, Whisky Investment Partners, helped fellow investor Rodger Parfitt return a staggering 4600% return on his own Macallan cask.

Thanks to the casks’ large quantity of around 374 litres (enough to fill around 534 bottles with 33-year-old Macallan) the record-breaking auction eventually ended with the cask sold to another private individual. With a strong ABV of 51.5%, the cask is in no rush to be bottled, and we may yet see this butt set further records in the future.