[Sep
28] LONDON,UK— A 157-year-old whisky was sold for more than 29,000
pounds (41,500 euros/59,200 dollars) Friday, setting a world record
auction price for a bottle of Scotch.
The Bowmore single malt, which was bottled in 1850,
was sold at McTear's auctioneers in Glasgow for 29,400 pounds to
an anonymous telephone bidder, beating the distillery itself.
The price, which included buyer's premium, comfortably
beat the pre-sale estimate of between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds.
The whisky, which was was sold on behalf of a private
owner, is the oldest known bottle of Bowmore in existence.
An auction spokesman said the sale came despite the
bottle's cork dropping into the whisky itself.
Bowmore's brand director Glen Moore said they had planned
to bring the bottle back to the distillery to take pride of place
in its new visitor centre on the island of Islay, off Scotland's
west coast.
"We bid beyond the value limit we had set ourselves,
but unfortunately, the winning bidder went beyond that," he said.
"There are some serious whisky collectors around the
world, and we know Bowmore is incredibly popular amongst them."
Twin brothers William and James Mutter operated the
distillery from the 1850s until the early 1890s when Bowmore Distillery
Company Limited was formed.
The bottle was presented to William Mutter in 1851
at the time of him giving up his share of the distillery and has
remained in the family for generations.
