World's most expensive bottle of whiskey sold for over USD 1.1 million

A rare bottle of single-malt Scotch was bought for more than USD 1.1 million in Edinburgh, Scotland, making it the world's most expensive bottle of whiskey to be sold at auction, CNN reports.

The winning bid for the 60-year old Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 was made by a private collector from Asia over the phone, auctioneer Bonhams told CNN.

The sale broke a previous record set by Bonhams in May when another bottle of that same single-malt was sold for a little over USD 1 million in Hong Kong.

The whiskey was in a vat for 60 years before being bottled in 1986. It has been described by experts as the "Holy Grail" of whiskeys because of its quality, artwork and vintage.

– The world's most serious whiskey collectors will wait patiently for many years for a bottle to come onto the market – Bonhams whiskey specialist in Edinburgh, Martin Green, said in a statement.

The bottle's previous owner bought it from the Macallan distillery for an undisclosed sum in 1994, Bonhams said.

The bottle is part of a limited edition of 24 bottles that Macallan had two pop artists, Valerio Adami and Peter Blake, design labels for.

Its price point might also be explained by Bonhams admitting that it doesn't know how many of the 12 bottles -- with labels designed by Adami -- still exist.

One is thought to have been destroyed in the 2011 earthquake in Japan and at least another has been "opened and drunk," Bonhams wrote.

most expensive bottle of whiskey

Macallan Valerio Adami whiskey

Bonhams

whiskey

Martin Green

Valerio Adami

Peter Blake