Macallan Breaks World Record… Again for the most expensive Whisky Cask Sold at Auction for $2.33 Million
Sold at auction with a contemporary twist, the barrel was sold without a verification photo and instead with a non-transferable token (NFT).
Another day, another astronomically-priced whiskey sales record – though this one was aided by some cutting-edge technology to get there. On Friday, a cask of Macallan 1991 Scotch whiskey sold at auction for $2.33 million, setting a new world record for the highest price ever paid for a whisky barrel. However, the auction featured more than just a cask of highly sought-after Scotch; it also included a specially-commissioned NFT, which might increase the transaction’s overall value.
The Macallan has a history of smashing sales records, and this is no exception. In the race to become the world’s most expensive bottle of whiskey, bottles of Macallan 1926 60-Year-Old Scotch have continued to leapfrog each other in price, with the current record, established in 2019, standing at over $1.9 million. Although this cask of 1991 Scotch isn’t as ancient as the last record-setting cask, the customer is surely getting more bang for their buck: The barrel is reported to contain over 600 bottles of 51.1 percent ABV Scotch whisky, with an average bottle price of approximately $3,880 per bottle.
And, while we’re on the subject of leapfrogging, this current Macallan record comes at the cost of an older one: a comparable Macallan 1991 cask established the record for most expensive cask back in August by selling for $572,978 — despite the fact that it contained just roughly 200 bottles’ worth of liquor.
Another aspect that distinguishes the new world record-breaker is the manner in which it was sold: For this digital sale, London-based brokerage VCL Vintners opted to auction off the barrel using a non-fungible token created by NFT artist Trevor Jones, in keeping with the company’s mission to be “the world’s first NFT marketplace for whiskey cask investments.” Jones was commissioned to design an abstract portrayal of a barrel, rather than the traditional cask photograph. The Angel’s Share was the name given to the rather smudgy and roughly barrel-shaped final product.
