A new whisky record was set on November 29th at Christie’s auction house in London, when a single bottle of The Macallan Michael Dillon 1926 60 year old sold for a cool £1 million ($1.28 million). This special one-off bottle, hand-painted by artist Michael Dillon, depicts the Easter Elchies House at the Macallan estate. The whisky inside was drawn from the same vintage as other bottles that broke auction records earlier this year. With buyer’s premiums included, the price for the Michael Dillon bottle was £1.2 million ($1.5 million), a value that exceeds the previous record of £848,750 ($1.1 million—set by the The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60 year old, sold at Bonhams, Edinburgh in October—by 39% in dollar terms.
In 2018, the record auction price for a standard-sized bottle of whisky has risen a staggering 917% in dollar terms, from $166,793 at the start of this year to $1.5 million. In that period, the record has changed hands from Japanese whisky to scotch. thanks solely to bottles of The Macallan 1926 vintage; five of these bottles were auctioned in 2018, and all but one exceeded $1 million at auction.
2018 Auction Records for the Most Expensive Standard-Sized Bottle of Whisky
| Whisky | Price (includes buyer’s premium) | Auction House | Date |
| Karuizawa 1960 52 year old “The Wanderer” | $166,793 | PolyAuction, Hong Kong | April 2, 2017 |
| Yamazaki 50 year old (3rd release) | $370,000 | Sotheby’s, Hong Kong | January 27, 2018 |
| The Macallan Peter Blake 1926 60 year old | $1,014,273 | Bonham’s, Hong Kong | May 18, 2018 |
| The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60 year old | $1,100,096 | Bonham’s, Hong Kong | May 18, 2018 |
| The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60 year old | $1,102,619 | Bonham’s Edinburgh | October 3, 2018 |
| The Macallan Michael Dillon 1926 60 year old | $1,528,800 | Christie’s, London | November 29, 2018 |
