Two miniature bottles of single malt whisky fetched a tasty £14,000 at auction.
A James MacArthur’s Malt Mill – bottled in the early 1990s but from a sample distilled in 1959 – sold for £6,670.
And a bottle of Springbank 1919 fetched £7,350.
Each contained 5cl – just over a measure of alcohol.
The MacArthur’s, one of only four in the world, originated from the Malt Mill distillery on the Scottish island of Islay.
It was distilled for use in blended whiskies three years before Malt Mill closed down in 1962.
Workers bottled samples to produce rare tipples years later. The anonymous winning bidder said: “I’m not sure I’ll ever drink it. I’ll hang on to it for a few years and feel proud to own it.”
The second whisky was produced in 1919 and bottled in 1969 at the Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown.
Whisky.Auction director Isabel Graham-Yooll said: “Miniatures often outlive their full-size counterparts in ‘souvenir’ style. And sometimes, the liquid is so scarce that only miniatures ever existed.”
The £14,000 is, however, small beer in the world of expensive booze. Swedish Diva Vodka can cost £780,000 in a bottle featuring 3,000 Swarovski crystals, platinum and gold.
And a Gout de Diamants champagne – blended with gold flakes and in a diamond-laden bottle – sold for £1.8million.
