Luxury retailer Le Clos has recently sold a pair of whisky bottles for a world record price.
Le Clos is based in Dubai Airport, where its reputation for world exclusive wines and spirits has made it one of the world’s most unique shopping experiences.
The latest sale for the retailer has broken all records, as a pair of rare Macallan bottles of whisky have been purchased for $600,000 (£443,000) each, making the $1.2 million (£886,000) price-tag the most expensive ever. Sold to an unnamed international businessman, they will become part of his private collection. It is not known if they will ever be savoured in a specially engraved whisky glass.
Managing director of Le Clos, Iain Delaney, commented:
“The desire to deliver world-class retailing excellence is engrained in our DNA as is our reputation for exploring the world to source unique fine wines and luxury spirits that are both accessible as they are different and bring them to one of the world’s great cross-roads.”
The whisky was ‘The Macallan 1926’, which matured in sherry oak casks for 60 years before being bottled in 1986. A total of 40 bottles were made, with 12 given to Sir Peter Blake, the artist responsible for the cover of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles, and 12 to Valerio Adami, an acclaimed Italian artist.
They each designed a label for the bottles, which in themselves are regarded as pieces of art. Each bottle was presented in a tantaluse, a small wooden display cabinet based on the design of a distillery spirit safe. The bottles originally retailed for £20,000, with a previous sale in 2007 fetching $75,000 (£55,000) at Christie’s auction house.
