Rare 50-year-old whisky auctioned

The 50-year-old Macallan sold for £11,750

A single bottle of whisky has sold for £11,750 at auction in Glasgow.

The 50-year-old Macallan, a bottling of three casks distilled between 1926 and 1928, sold to a private collector in California at McTear's auctioneers.

It is the most expensive bottle sold this year and the most expensive 50-year-old bottle of Macallan ever sold.

The auction of collectable whiskies saw 574 lots sold for a total of almost £155,000, making it the largest sale of its kind in the world.

Also among the lots was a 60-year-old Royal Brackla which sold for £3,800 and a limited edition 1965 bottle of Ardbeg, which sold for £3,000.

The auction featured a record collection of 60 bottles of Macallan and also included bottlings from all the major distilleries in Scotland, including Springbank, Rosebank and Highland Park.

Andrew Bell, McTear's whisky specialist, said: "We knew that out of almost 600 different lots the Macallan Anniversary 50-year-old was the stand out bottle in the sale and it's quite clear that others agreed.

"Whisky collectors from across the world joined the sale by phone and through the internet and the price paid is a reflection of its importance to collectors and investors in whisky."