LOT ID: 0723-448
End Date : Sep 13 2023 08:12 PM
Macallan 1959. Bottled by Campbell Hope & King and imported by Rinaldi. Matured in Sherry Casks. 75cl. 26 2/3 Fl Ozs. 80 Proof. In presentation box.
A marvellous old 1959 vintage Macallan bottled in the late 1970s before the distillery took its official bottlings in-house. This edition is a licensed bottling by UK merchants Campbell, Hope & King for the Italian importer Rinaldi, and was released at 80 Imperial proof, equivalent to 46% alcohol by volume. These magnificent licensed bottlings of vintage Macallan were once commonplace, but were replaced in the 1980s by the official core range 18-year-old.
FILLING LEVEL
Lower Neck
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.
Campbell, Hope & King was an independent drinks merchant and bottler who released some legendary official editions of Macallan under licence from the 1940s until the early 1980s when the distillery took all their official bottlings in-house. Prior to that, Campbell, Hope & King were one of the main licensed bottlers of Macallan in the UK, along with Gordon & MacPhail and Matthew Clark.
Campbell, Hope & King started life as the Argyle Brewery in Edinburgh in 1710, becoming Archibald Campbell Co. in the 19th century and Campbell, Hope & King in 1896 when it assimilated the Glasgow-based Hope & King spirits merchants and whisky blending business. Campbell, Hope & King was purchased by Whitbread in the 1960s and its Argyle brewery was subsequently sold off, but the superb vintage Macallans bottled by Campbell, Hope & King ensure the company’s immortality in whisky circles.
BID | DATE | TIME | |
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£1,700.00 | 13th September 2023 | 20:02 | |