Most Expensive Whiskey in the World – Whisky, often known as whiskey, is a distilled alcoholic beverage manufactured from fermented barley mash.
Various grains, such as barley, maize, rye, and wheat, are utilized for distinct types.
Whisky is often matured in hardwood barrels, which are typically ancient sherry casks or charred white oak.
There’s a bottle for every taste, price range, and preference in the vast world of whiskey.
Nowadays, whiskey can be found in every region of America—and, indeed, every corner of the world—each with its distinct flavor and personality.
We’ve got you covered whether you’re searching for the most expensive whiskey in the world.
These whiskies are wonderfully crafted—and exquisitely priced—after being distilled by experts of the trade, matured for almost a half-century, and bottled in magnificent decanters.
Many people like a drink of scotch whiskey, but these malts have smashed records (and bank accounts) to become the most expensive malts available.
Let’s have a look at the top 12 most expensive whiskey bottles in the world.
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12 Most Expensive Whiskey Brands in the World
1. Isabella’s Islay – Price $6.4 Million
Isabella’s Islay is the world’s most expensive whiskey in the world — well, technically, by approximately $6 million.
While the cask-strength scotch inside is said to be excellent (though what self-respecting drinker would criticize a spirit purchased with the equivalent of a Beverly Hills mansion?) the majority of what you’re paying for is the bottle.
Over 8,500 diamonds, 300 rubies (which spell out the name, which may be personalized), and the equivalent of two bars of white gold adorn the English crystal decanter.
There is virtually little information available regarding the whiskey itself, which leads us to believe that this is just an opportunity to brag about the size of your money account.
2. The Emerald Isle Collection — Price $2 Million
The world’s most expensive whiskey collectors’ set sold for $2 million (€1.68 million).
This $2 million personalized gift bundle from The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. and Fabergé includes a variety of exquisite items.
The set is encased in an elegantly made walnut box that is said to be inspired by the form of an emerald, which depicts Ireland’s breathtaking natural beauty.
Each of the seven boxes will include artwork of one of Ireland’s Seven Wonders, as well as its geographical coordinates.
Two bottles of The Craft Irish Whiskey Co’s 30-year-old triple-distilled whiskey are included.
The whiskey is initially matured in 200-litre “first-fill” American oak barrels after distillation.
Following that, it is aged in a 40-liter Pedro Ximénez sherry cask. The one-of-a-kind flavor is the product of the unique distillation and aging procedure.
The scent of the brand’s distillers ranged from chocolate to maple syrup, smelling of bananas and leather, with undertones of cigar smoke, vanilla, and meringue towards the end.
3. The Macallan Fine and Rare 60 Year Old — Price $1.9m
When the Macallan Fine and Rare 60 Year Old sold for a record-breaking $1.9 million at Sotheby’s in London in 2019, it became the most expensive bottle of whiskey in the world ever sold at auction.
It is regarded as the forefather of The Macallan Fine and Rare series — a collection of 57 vintage single-malt whiskies made by the distillery over eight decades – which remains the most sought-after whiskey collection to this day.
“The Macallan 1926 Fine & Rare is one of a handful of classic whiskey releases that has accumulated such a high stature that it exists more in connection to a fine art these days than other whiskey bottlings,” whiskey expert Angus MacRaild said in a prepared statement. “
Its auction performance will undoubtedly be a significant, bellwether statement about how iconic and culturally important Scotch Whisky is in the twenty-first century.”
Regardless of where you stand in the whiskey world, the prospect of such a bottle coming to auction and perhaps breaking price records is interesting and thrilling.
4. The Macallan Michael Dillon 1926 60 Year Old — Price $1.53 Million
As one of the last surviving bottles from cask #263, The Macallan chose to employ Irish artist Michael Dillon to hand-paint this bottle of the coveted 60 Year Old.
The one-of-a-kind bottle, which represents The Macallan Speyside estate’s treasured Easter Elchies House in exquisite detail, was launched in 1999.
The bottle hadn’t been seen in 19 years until it was acquired at the famed London department shop Fortnum & Mason.
That is until it went under the hammer at Christie’s in London in November 2018 and became the first whiskey to sell for more than £1 million, fetching £1.2 million (roughly $1.53 million).
It is currently the second most expensive whiskey bottle ever sold at auction.
5. Hanyu Ichiro’s Full Card Series — Price $1.52 Million
This full set was originally held by Aaron Chan of Hong Kong’s Club Qing whiskey bar and sold for a record price of $1,520,000 – the last complete sold for $929,000 in 2019.
Chan amassed the collection early on and displayed it as the highlight of his bar for five years.
The tale of how the collection came to be added to its value. Isouji Akuto, who hailed from a long family of sake brewers, founded the famed Hanyu distillery in 1941.
Akuto’s grandson saved 400 barrels of good whiskey from the distillery before it closed in 2000.
He hand-selected each whiskey (or card) from these barrels, which were subsequently released between 2005 and 2014 to form the Full Card Series.
6. Dalmore Decades No.6 Collection — Price $1.24 Million
The Dalmore Decades – the sole complete collection of a one-of-a-kind set of six vintage single malts spanning 1951 to 2000 – sold for $1,124,000 at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on Friday. This was a new auction high for the luxury malt market.
It is the most valuable whiskey lot sold by Sotheby’s this year and the most expensive whisky lot ever sold by Sotheby’s in Asia.
Collectors from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom battled for the collection, with one Asian private collector taking the top prize.
Following The Dalmore’s announcement in 2020 of a four-year partnership with Scotland’s first design museum – and the first Victoria & Albert Museum to open outside of London – to nurture and champion Scottish culture and creative talent on a global stage, a portion of the sale proceeds will be donated to V&A Dundee.
7. The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60 Year Old — $1.07m
This time, it was the turn of another well-known pop artist, Italian painter Valerio Adami, to create the label.
Adami’s packaging features a naked woman presumably adoring a bottle of The Macallan 1926.
One of the 12 bottles created is said to have been destroyed in a Japanese earthquake, making it rarer and more sought-after.
When a bottle was put up for sale online in February 2020, it drew 1,642 bids from 56 nations, including Australia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.
The victorious bidder is claimed to be a European who spent £825,000 (roughly $1.07 million), making it one of the most expensive whiskey bottles ever sold at auction.
8. The Macallan Peter Blake 1926 60 Year Old — Price $1.04 Million
This is one of the most expensive whisky in the world from The Macallan’s legendary cask #263.
The sherry-seasoned barrel was filled in 1926 and sat in the Speyside distillery for six decades until its golden nectar was split into just 40 bottles in 1986.
Twenty-four bottles were decorated with labels created by prominent artists, one bottle was commissioned to be painted, and two were auctioned off in blank bottles.
The remaining 14 would be available as part of Macallan’s vintage release program – but more on that later.
The first 12 bottles were released in 1993, and to highlight the rarity of the single malt, The Macallan collaborated with pop artist Sir Peter Blake (well known for his creation of The Beatles’ Sgt.
Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover) to create the label.
This would be the first of three creative collaborations that would enable the Macallan 1926 60 Year Old earn record-breaking auction prices.
One of the 12 The Macallan Peter Blake 1926 60 Year Old was auctioned off at Bonhams in Hong Kong in May 2018 and sold for £751,703 (roughly $1.04m).
9. Macallan M — Price $628,205
The 6-liter bottle of The Macallan M is one of the world’s oldest and most expensive whiskeys.
It is housed in a decanter made of handmade crystal that was conceived and manufactured by 17 artisans. The final bottle of The Macallan M was auctioned off for USD 628,205 in Hong Kong.
They are matured in Spanish oak for a period of 25 to 75 years.
The Macallan is one of the world’s most sought-after and collectible whiskies, sitting at the top of the whisky auction index and holding the current Guinness World record for the most expensive whisky ever sold at auction, The Macallan 64 years old in LALIQUE Cire Perdue at the US $460,000 in New York in 2010.
10. Macallan 64 Lalique Cire Perdue — Price $464,000
Macallan 64 is one of the most expensive whiskey brands from the Speyside distillery, with the highest price tag due to the usage of valuable decanters.
The Macallan 64 by Lalique Cire Perdue was last seen at a 2010 auction when it sold for $464,000.
The mix of three premium old whiskeys aged in Spanish oak barrels from 1946, 1945, and 1942 produced the grade of premium old whiskey.
The brand was included in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most expensive whiskey.
It is a sophisticated drink because of its unusual blends and delicate dark chocolate undertones. The proceeds were given to Charity: Water, a clean water initiative.
The remarkable crystal decanter, created and manufactured by the iconic French firm Lalique, can be found nowhere else.
The flowery flask was handcrafted using the cire perdue process and is regarded as outstanding, creative, and incredibly expensive.
11. Macallan 64 Year In Lalique — Price $460,000
In 2010, a bottle of 64-year-old Macallan whiskey in a Lalique Cire Perdue decanter was auctioned off.
It was the most expensive whiskey ever sold at the time of its sale, and no less than the Guinness World Records attested to the achievement.
The most bizarre aspect of the sales was that the earnings were donated to charity.
Officially, the Macallan 64 Year Old Lalique Cire Perdue is the world’s most expensive whiskey sold at auction.
The Macallan 64 Year Old was named the most expensive whiskey sold at auction’ by Guinness World Records for US$460,000 (£291,125), with all earnings going to charity.
The ‘one-of-a-kind’ Lalique crystal decanter held the oldest and rarest Macallan single malt whiskey ever produced by the distillery, a 64-Year-Old.
The auction took held in November 2010 at Sotheby’s in New York.
12. Dalmore 64 Trinitas — Price $164,100
The Dalmore 64 Trinitas Single Malt Scotch is a three-bottle limited edition of a very aged whiskey.
According to marketing materials on The Whisky Exchange, it includes spirits going back to 1868, and it is one of the most expensive whiskies in the world at $164,000 (an estimate, since no price is presently displayed via the merchant).
Only one of the original three is still available for purchase, making it one of the most unique and rare.
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