BBC News
‘Holy grail of whisky’ sells for £2.1m at auction
Reports the sale at The Macallan Estate in Speyside, placing the result second among whisky auction prices measured in pounds.
Read original1926 F&R · News & Market Context
The Macallan 1926
In the News
A century after distillation, a Fine & Rare bottle sold at The Macallan Estate for approximately $2.8 million.
Coverage reviewed · Sale
- Sale total · GBP
- £2,125,000
- Reported US equivalent
- $2.8 million
- 2023 sterling record
- £2,187,500
Including commission
$2,807,905 reported by WhiskyCast
A different Valerio Adami bottle
What the result actually means
The 9 October 2026 sale achieved £2,125,000 including commission, following a £1.7 million hammer price. The widely reported “$3 million bottle” is more precisely a roughly $2.8 million sale. The entire auction, rather than this bottle alone, totaled approximately £3.3 million.
The result set a new auction high for a Fine & Rare-label 1926 bottle. In sterling it fell below the 2023 Adami-label result; in US dollars, the reported conversion was higher because exchange rates had changed.
News & Source Library
WhiskyCast
The Macallan Fine & Rare 1926 Sells for $2.8 Million
Reports £2,125,000 ($2,807,905) and explains why exchange rates produced a higher dollar result without surpassing the 2023 sterling record.
Read originalForbes
Macallan 1926 Fetches $2.8 Million As Sotheby’s Holds Historic First Sale At The Macallan Estate
Coverage of the $2.8 million result and the first Sotheby’s sale held at The Macallan Estate. Publisher access restrictions may apply.
Read originalThe Herald
Bottle of The Macallan 1926 sells for £2.1 million at auction
Reports the £2,125,000 Fine & Rare result and the wider 42-lot auction, which achieved approximately £3.3 million in total.
Read originalThe National
Scottish whisky sells for £2.1m at Sotheby’s auction
Covers the centenary sale, the Fine & Rare label record and the distinction between sterling and US-dollar auction rankings.
Read originalThe World of Fine Spirits
The Macallan 1926 Falls Short of New World Record
Separates the £1.7 million hammer price from the £2.125 million total after commission, and compares the result with the 2023 Adami sale.
Read originalSotheby’s
A Bottle of the World’s Most Valuable Whisky To Lead Sotheby’s Landmark Sale at The Macallan Estate
The auction house’s pre-sale announcement. This is background on the event, not confirmation of its final result.
Read originalSotheby’s
Collector’s Cellar: The Macallan 1926 and the Making of a Market
Historical context on the 1926 vintage, its six decades of maturation and its role in the development of rare-whisky collecting.
Read originalSotheby’s
The Macallan Valerio Adami 60 Year Old: Revisiting the Most Expensive Whisky Ever Sold
The auction house revisits the distinct Valerio Adami bottle sold on 18 November 2023 for £2,187,500.
Read originalThe Guardian
Rare 1926 Macallan whisky becomes world’s most expensive bottle at £2.1m
Contemporaneous reporting of the £2,187,500 London auction result, which remains above the 2026 sale in sterling.
Read originalSelected reporting available at the review date; not an exhaustive or automatically updated news feed. Summaries are editorial context, not reproduced articles. Original reporting belongs to the linked publishers. 1926 F&R is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by The Macallan, Sotheby’s or these publishers.