A Rare Whiskey Cask Sold for £1 Million at Auction

A rare whiskey barrel was bought 34 years ago for just £5,000 and then sold at auction for a record £1 million. Macallan 1988 barrels were forgotten until the distillery reminded the original owner that it was aged in the warehouse. 

The whiskey cask broke the existing record of a cask, which was set at £444,000 in 2019. The hammer price for the whiskey cask was £915,500 at a specialist auction site, with the bidder paying  £1,007,050 including the buyers' premium. 

Whisky Hammer managing director, Daniel Milne said, “When this cask was listed in our auction, we knew it had the potential to make history.” He further said, “To come across a cask of this age, quality and size is extraordinary in itself, enhanced by the fact that liquid was distilled at The Macallan.”

The cask can hold 534 single malt 70cl bottles. Its "per bottle" price of £1,907 per cask also sets a new record. The Macallan has produced some of the world's most valuable whiskies. The previous £444,000 auction record held by Bonhams was also from the Macallan barrels.