Moderator
With a taste described as Christmas cake style fruit, The Macallan Millennium is considered the greatest aged Macallan Whisky of them all and, at 900 bottles, one of the most sought-after whiskies in the world.
These two Macallans are among the finest whiskies to come to auction in recent times. The reputation of both is justifiably very high among collectors. This is reflected in the high estimates and the decanters will, I am sure, be keenly sought after.
Martin Green Bonhams Whisky specialist
The bottle of The Macallan Millennium was distilled in 1949, aged for 50 years in Spanish oak sherry casks, and was bottled in 1999. It is a highlight of Bonhams Whisky Sale in Edinburgh on 7 June. It comes in a Caithness glass decanter accompanied by a stopper and in its own fitted oak presentation case. It is estimated at £15,000-17,000.
In 1949, the Speyside distillery still used its own traditional malting floors, heating the air to dry the fermented barley and turn it into malt. Facing a post-war shortage of coal, they solved their fuel problem by adding more peat than usual to the mix. Connoisseurs can detect an extra hint of peat smoke in The Macallan Millennium to this day.
The sale also features a crystal decanter of Duncan Taylor Macallan-42 year old estimated at £12,000-15,000. Distilled at the Macallan Distillery in 1969, it was bottled by the acclaimed producer Duncan Taylor of Speyside and is part of the Duncan Taylor The Rarest Collection. The decanter is housed in a presentation case made from the oak cask in which the Whisky matured. Source
