Macallan 1928 50 Year Old Anniversary Malt

Imagine being able to buy a bottle of 50 Year Old Macallan for only £50! Unthinkable today, but that was the reality in 1983 when the distillery launched the first of their Anniversary Malts; a 1928 vintage that had actually been aged for 54 years but declared as a 50 to better fit with the Anniversary theme. 

Releasing such a monumental whisky during the early 1980s (a notoriously rocky period for the Scotch whisky industry) might have felt a tad risky for Macallan, but they needn’t have worried. The small outturn of just five hundred bottles sold quickly, and soon afterwards a single bottle would fetch £1000 at auction, setting a record for the most expensive whisky in the world. That may sound quaint by modern standards, but it was one of the first indications that rare single malt whisky might represent a shrewd investment.

That record-breaking bottle is the very one that will be going under the hammer again in our October whisky auction, courtesy of the prescient collector who placed the winning bid back in November 1986, having travelled to chilly Scotland from their tropical Hawaiian home with a singular purpose. Even forty years ago it was clear that the Anniversary Malt represented something special, and today it is rightly recognised as one of the most important single malt whiskies ever to be bottled. We are, therefore, thrilled to be able to offer whisky afficionados, connoisseurs, and collectors around the world the opportunity to bid for a bottle of this iconic whisky.

McTear’s is the longest-established auctioneer of whisky in the world. Entries are invited for our regular international whisky auctions. For a complimentary, no-obligation valuation, visit our Glasgow Galleries or contact our specialist on 0141 810 2880 or whisky@mctears.co.uk.