World’s most expensive miniature ever: 50ml bottle of whisky sells for £6,440
Whisky sales have set a new record with the sale of a 50ml bottle of whisky for £6,440, making it the most expensive miniature ever sold at auction.
The Springbank single malt, distilled in 1919, was one of more than 400 bottles from a collection that sold for £56,732.95 after commission.
Just 24 full-size 700ml bottles were produced at the distillery in 1970 and it was once in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most expensive whisky.
Whisky collector and co-founder of the online whisky retailer The Whisky Exchange, Sukhinder Singh, put together the collection over four decades.
He said: “I am extremely pleased that after 40 years of collecting these miniatures they have found their way into other collections around the world.
“Ten miniatures from my collection reached prices of £1,000 or more including the Springbank 1919, which achieved £6,440, breaking the record for the highest price ever paid for a miniature.
“I am thrilled to see that interest in miniature collecting is at an all-time high as it’s something I fell in love with four decades ago.”
Other stand-out miniatures from the sale via online auction site Whisky.Auction include a rare 1940s Glenfiddich Special with box, which went for £2,350, and a Macallan Spiral Label from the 1970s that sold for £2,185.
Mr Singh decided to sell a large proportion of his collection to make room for future purchases, keeping just one bottle from each distillery to go on display.
Isabel Graham-Yooll, auction director at Whisky.Auction said: “We have seen a wonderful renaissance in the appreciation of rare whisky miniatures.
“Bidders are willing to pay what seems like a lot of money for tiny bottles of whisky but it is the opportunity to taste a piece of history – particularly when standard 70cl or 75cl formats have become inaccessible for many enthusiasts to buy.”