Bottle of The Macallan 1926 sells for record £1.5m

A rare bottle of Scotch whisky has sold for a world record £1.5m at auction in London.

The Macallan 1926 60-year-old single malt from cask number 263 had been estimated to sell for between £350,000 and £450,000.

Sotheby's, which held the auction, did not release the identity of the buyer.

The previous auction record for a single bottle of Scotch was £1.2m, set by another bottle from the same cask in November last year.

Sotheby's described The Macallan 1926 from cask number 263 as the "holy grail" of whisky.

Iconic bottles

The cask, which was distilled in 1926 and bottled in 1986, produced only 40 bottles.

The bottle featured at the auction as part of what Sotheby's termed the "ultimate whisky collection".

The entire collection of 467 bottles in 394 lots sold for £7,635,619 - about double the pre-auction estimate.

It was Sotheby's first offering of spirits from a single owner.

Jonny Fowle, Sotheby's spirits specialist, said: "This fantastic result is testament to the quality of the collection.

"It was remarkable to see so many iconic bottles break records - homage to the importance of distilleries such as Bowmore, Brora, Springbank and, of course, The Macallan."