The team behind the world’s largest bottle of Scotch is attempting to secure a new world record by becoming the most expensive bottle of Whisky ever sold. Standing tall at nearly six feet and weighing in at over 700 pounds, the world’s largest bottle of Scotch — named The Intrepid — will be auctioned off to the public on May 25.
The Intrepid contains 311-liters of highly coveted 32-year-old Scotch from The Macallan, the award winning distillery based out of Scotland. The bottle was poured in September of 2021 by a trio of Whisky-related companies — independent bottler Duncan Taylor & Co., investment firm Fah Mai Holdings Group, and alternative assets firm Rosewin Holdings. At the time of pouring, the group believed that it was quite plausible this bottle could beat the record for not only being the world’s largest bottle, but also the most expensive.
The team behind the bottle states that they were inspired by the passion for exploring ingrained in some of the world’s leading pioneers, like Sir Robin Knox-Johnston who was the first individual to complete a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the globe, Olly Hicks, known for his independent ocean rowing, and climate scientist Felicity Aston. Images of these explorers, and more, are featured on the bottle itself.
“The Intrepid could only have been made possible by the explorers and their commitment. They showed unquestionable personal drive and through the auction we will support a wide ranging group of charities with significance to the explorers. This will become part of The Intrepid’ s legacy and leave a lasting impact.”
The record for the most expensive bottle ever sold currently belongs to a different The Macallan label,The Macallan 1926 60-Year-Old Scotch, which sold for just shy of $1.9 million in October of 2019. Given that this bottle was the standard 700-millimeter size and The Intrepid contains about 444 times this amount, it seems likely that The Macallan 1926 will be bested later this May. Furthermore, when assessing the cost of a standard 700-milliliter bottle of 30-year-old Macallan — which currently is valued at about $3,700 — some simple math tells us that the Scotch alone is worth over $1.6 million. With the excitement over the prospect of owning the world’s largest bottle, the auction is sure to be a spectacle.
Auctioneer of the event Colin Fraser states that he is confident there will be “significant global interest” in the bidding over The Intrepid as bidders will have the opportunity to “become the owners of an exclusive 32-year-old single-malt Scotch from what is widely regarded as one of the world’s best distilleries, The Macallan.” He has hopes that this bottle will smash (no pun intended) the current world record for most expensive bottle of Whisky ever sold.
If bidding on the world’s largest bottle itself doesn’t pique bidders’ fancies, they are welcome to place an offer on the number of other collections being auctioned off including collection sets and mini bottles. Registration for bidding is now open and the auction will take place virtually through Scottish auction house Lyon & Turnbull at 12 Noon BST — 7 AM EST.
