Sotheby's to auction off artist Sir Peter Blake-labelled Macallan bottle

Sotheby's will be auctioning in March a 1967 whisky bottle from Macallan's Anecdotes of Ages Collection. Photo: AFP

A one-of-the-kind bottle of whisky: Sotheby's will offer in March a 1967 vintage bottle of the Macallan single-malt whisky, which was created in collaboration with British artist Sir Peter Blake.

This lot comes from The Macallan's newly launched "Anecdotes of Ages Collection," which celebrates the legacy and history of Blake and The Macallan through 13 unique bottles of 1967 whisky. Art enthusiasts are probably familiar with Sir Peter Blake, whose collage-style art ended up on the cover of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

Each bottle in the collection features an original collage on the label inspired by "the brand's legacy and the unique stories detailing its history and community, and the natural landscape of The Macallan Estate."

The one on offer at Sotheby's, entitled "A New Era Of Advertising," celebrates the people in The Macallan's history who were instrumental in broadening the distilleries's reach beyond the local borders of Speyside onto a global stage since the 1930s.

"Each collage is inspired by The Macallan history and heritage, one that respects time and craft, two essential components of my own creative process. I meticulously worked on each collage, pulling from The Macallan Estate's rich legacy to complete a collection that is a celebration of art and whisky," Sir Peter Blake commented.

The "New Era Of Advertising" bottle will be auctioned on March 13 during Sotheby's first dedicated spirits sale in New York, along with a print donated by Blake and a two-day one-night experience at the Macallan Estate in Scotland. The estimate of the multi-component lot ranges between US$125,000 (RM505,000) and US$750,000 (RM3mil), with proceeds benefiting the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and its diversity, equity, access and inclusion initiatives.

The appearance of the "A New Era Of Advertising" bottle on the market arrives at a time when Sotheby's Wine's annual auction sales of wines and spirits have totalled US$92mil in 2020. Some of the most memorable auctions included The Macallan Red Collection and The Macallan in Lalique Six Pillars Collection, which respectively sold for US$977,496 (RM3.9mil) and US$507,819 (RM2mil). - AFP