A $2.7 million whisky bottle from the 1920s breaks the record for most expensive liquor sold

A rare bottle of Macallan whisky broke records at Sotheby's this weekend. 

• A rare bottle of whisky broke records at Sotheby's this weekend. 
• The single malt from Macallan sold for $2.7 million.
• Only 11 other bottles like it are thought to exist after one was destroyed in 2011. 

A prohibition-era bottle of whisky aged for 60 years before it was bottled sold for $2.7 million at auction Saturday, auction house Sotheby's announced.

There were only 40 bottles made of the Macallan 1926 single malt, a Scotch whisky bottled in 1986 prized by collectors that comes in a variety of custom labels.

Twelve of those bottles, including the one sold on Saturday, featured a design from an Italian painter named Valerio Adami. One of these 12 bottles was thought to have been destroyed during the 2011 Japanese earthquake, making the product even rarer.

The whisky's rarity makes it highly sought out by collectors — in 2018, a bottle from the same batch sold for $1.5 million.

In 2019, a bottle sold for $1.9 million, previously the record-setter.

"The Macallan 1926 is the one whisky that every auctioneer wants to sell and every collector wants to own," Jonny Fowle, Sotheby's global head of spirits, told the Associated Press.

Per Sotheby's, the record-breaking whisky aged in "super rich European oak, ex-Sherry barrels" and bottled in 1986. When the auction house received the bottle, they worked with Macallan to replace the cork and capsule.

The taste of the whisky was described as containing "rich dark fruits, black cherry compote alongside sticky dates, followed by intense sweet antique oak," according to Macallan's Master Whisky Maker Kirsteen Campbell, who was present when the bottle was opened during the cork and capsule replacement.

"It was a very special moment to experience the opening of this iconic 60 Years Old single malt, first bottled 37 years ago, and I hope the new custodian will enjoy the same privilege," Campbell told the AP.

Single-malt whisky, which can be extremely time-consuming and complicated to produce, has become trendy over the years, Business Insider previously reported, with collectors driving this popularity. Other players in the single-malt world include the Japanese brand Yamazaki. A collection of Yamazaki single-malt whisky bottles is expected to bring in 100s of thousands at auction next week.