LOT ID: 0223-451
End Date : Mar 22 2023 08:00 PM
Macallan 1949 - 1999. Bottled to mark the celebration of the new Millennium. 50 Year Old. One of 900 decanters. Matured in Spanish Sherry Casks. 70cl. 43%. In wooden presentation box with two keys (including the registered key) and stopper.
This fabulous dram rarely shows up at auction, which is perhaps unsurprising as it's one of a handful of bottlings that stand out as not only the greatest Macallans ever bottled but amongst the greatest whiskies ever bottled. A real crowning glory of a whisky.
Immediately following the Second World War, three casks were chosen and filled on the same day, 14th January 1949 to create this remarkable whisky. On 12th May 1999, when the casks were tipped for the marrying period, they were found to be almost identical in strength (between 50.2% and 50.8% abv), each having lost the same amount of alcohol through evaporation over those 50 years!
This means that each butt (holding 500 bulk litres when filled) has contributed a third of the vatting, and thus a third of the character of this 50 Years Old. The amount of whisky left in the casks after their 50 year slumber was just under half of the original volume, so the angels have certainly got their money's worth from these wonderful casks!
The Macallan Millennium Decanter
The renown of Caithness Glass, one of the leading producers of the highest quality hand made glassware, has spread throughout the world. Using sand from Loch Aline in Argyllshire and drawing on the skills of the local people employed in their Wick factory in the north of Scotland, Caithness Glass is recognised for its remarkable artistry.
The exceptional quality of Caithness Glass makes the perfect partner for the Macallan 50 Years Old. Lead free crystal has been crafted into the striking Macallan Millennium Decanter, which bears those clean lines so typical of Caithness Glass design.
A team of two glassmakers ensures absolute consistency of quality. Between them they must judge by hand the exact weight of glass with which to produce each decanter to the correct volume. Gary McKay makes the "ball", the first two "gathers" of molten glass, blown into a compact ball shape on the blowing iron; Graeme Crowe then adds the top "gather" of glass and completes the highly skilled task of blowing each decanter into its final shape. Cutting, finishing, grinding, polishing and engraving complete the demanding production process.
Each decanter is finished with copper detail on the neck and stopper, before being filled with the sublime Macallan spirit. The presentation box is fashioned from oak-and features a copper ingot, cast from copper reclaimed from No. 9 spirit still at Macallan Distillery. Naturally, the copper will tarnish over time, but regular polishing will keep these elements in pristine condition.
FILLING LEVEL
Shoulder
The grandest of Speyside’s blue chip distilleries, Macallan was founded in 1824 and carved a reputation for luxury single malt whisky in the 1980s with string of 18-year-old and 25-year-old sherry-matured vintage single malts distilled in the 1960s and 1970s, building on the renown of earlier highly-regarded licensed bottlings by Gordon & MacPhail and Campbell, Hope and King.
In the early 2000s, as the supply and quality of even the best sherry casks declined dramatically, Macallan introduced their Fine Oak series, an initially controversial range of bottlings that included bourbon-matured spirit in the cask recipe. While the Fine Oak series took some time to find its audience, Macallan’s status as the top Speyside distillery - particularly at auction - was already well-established and today a legion of eager Macallan fans ensure that each new luxury bottling from the distillery sells out immediately on release.
Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.
This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.
| BID | DATE | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £25,000.00 | 22nd March 2023 | 19:39 | |
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