Springbank whisky miniature sells for £5,600 at auction

A rare Scottish whisky miniature has sold for a record £5,600 at auction.

The 5cl Springbank single malt was one of more than 400 bottles from a collection that sold for £56,732.95, after commission.

The whisky was distilled at the Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown in 1919.

Only 24 full-size bottles were produced at the distillery in 1970, and it was once in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most expensive whisky.

The miniature was put up for sale by whisky collector and co-founder of online retailer The Whisky Exchange, Sukhinder Singh.

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Ten miniatures from his collection reached prices of at least £1,000.

He said: "I am extremely pleased that after 40 years of collecting these miniatures they have found their way into other collections around the world."

Other highlights from the sale, via online auction site Whisky.Auction, included a rare 1940s Glenfiddich Special, with box, which went for £2,350, and a Macallan Spiral Label from the 1970s that sold for £2,185.

This 1940s Glenfiddich Special, with box, went for £2,350

Mr Singh said he had decided to sell a large proportion of his collection to make room for future purchases, keeping just one bottle from each distillery to go on display.

Isabel Graham-Yooll, auction director at Whisky.Auction said: "We have seen a wonderful renaissance in the appreciation of rare whisky miniatures.

"Bidders are willing to pay what seems like a lot of money for tiny bottles of whisky but it is the opportunity to taste a piece of history - particularly when standard 70cl or 75cl formats have become inaccessible for many enthusiasts to buy."