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The world's
largest bottle of Scotch whisky, The
Intrepid, filled with 311 litres of The
Macallan 32 Year Old single malt was
sold at auction today for £1.1m.
The world's
largest bottle of Scotch whisky,
The Intrepid,
which stands at 5ft 11 inches tall and
filled with 311 litres of
The Macallan 32 Year Old single
malt whisky which was distilled at the
prestigious The Macallan distillery in
Speyside in 1989, has sold for £1.1m
($1.375m) after going under the hammer
live online today 25th May at
international auctioneers Lyon &
Turnbull.
 Interest in The Intrepid, a
collaboration between Fah Mai and
Rosewin Holdings, came from across the
globe with bidding taking place both
live online and by telephone, eventually
selling to an international collector.
The bottle, which contains the
equivalent of 444 standard bottles, was
officially certified as the largest
bottle of Scotch whisky in the world by
Guinness World Records when it was
filled last year.
The Intrepid project was created by
Daniel Monk, of Fah Mai and Rosewin
Holdings, in memory of his father
Captain Stanley Monk (the auction day
would have been his 80th birthday), and
inspired by his passion for adventure,
exploration and a desire to help raise
money for several charities.
The team named The Intrepid to celebrate
the drive and record-breaking
achievements of 11 of the world’s most
pioneering explorers who are featured on
the bottle. These include such
luminaries as Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Sir
Robin Knox-Johnston, Dr. Geoff Wilson,
Karen Darke MBE, Olly Hicks, Sarah Outen
MBE, Dwayne Fields FRGS, Levison Wood
FRGS, Felicity Aston MBE and past
Scottish Adventurers of the Year Jamie
Ramsay and Will Copestake.
Founder of The Intrepid Project, Daniel
Monk, said: "For me and the whole team
The Intrepid project has always been
about more than money. This is a passion
project to celebrate the life of my late
father, Captain Stanley Monk who was
himself an explorer and achieved many
amazing things during his life. Today
would have been his birthday so it was a
perfect date to put The Intrepid up for
auction.
"The Intrepid project has been an
adventure from the start. I wanted to do
something positive over lockdown and the
whole team has worked extremely hard
with me to make it happen. I started
contacting explorers during lockdown to
get them on board and found people who
could make and fill the largest bottle
of Scotch whisky and together we have
achieved the dream. I’d like to thank
everyone involved in The Intrepid
project, which is dedicated to the
spirit and experience of exploration and
adventure. This spirit has carried Jon
Land, the project manager, and Sarah
Crawley, our amazing designer, through
the mighty challenges to get us where we
are today. And last but by no means
least, the Lyon & Turnbull team, who
have gone above and beyond and become an
integral part of this Intrepid journey."
The project is supporting the explorers’
chosen environmental, physical and
mental well-being charities. These
include Marie Curie, selected by Sir
Ranulph Fiennes, and Campaign Against
Living Miserably (CALM), chosen by Jamie
Ramsay.
The founders of The Intrepid project
felt it was important to make the
auction accessible to collectors at all
levels and created a small number of
exclusive bottle sets and miniatures as
part of the lots on offer at Lyon &
Turnbull. These comprised a collection
of 12 smaller 50 cl bottles, each filled
with the remaining 32-year-old The
Macallan whisky from the same casks used
to fill the record-breaking bottle. Each
set included a replica of the main
bottle design along with individual
bottles dedicated to each of the
explorers associated with the project.
Gavin Strang Managing Director of Lyon &
Turnbull said: "The Intrepid Collection,
led by the world’s largest bottle of
Scotch whisky, has attracted so much
global interest. It has been an
incredibly exciting project to be
involved in and we at Lyon & Turnbull
are delighted the auction has been such
a success.
"It has been a pleasure to work with
Daniel Monk and his team to help bring
this project to fruition. It certainly
isn’t every day you get to auction a
bottle of high-quality single malt, that
also happens to be a record breaker."
Rosewin Holdings’ Director of
Operations, Jon Land, reflected: "We are
all delighted with this result. Over the
past two and a half years, this giant
bottle and everything it stands for has
allowed us to gain exposure for
exploration, following dreams, and
general positivity in a challenging
global climate. Thanks especially go to
the 11 explorers, and we hope they have
benefitted from being part of this
bonkers project.
"Now, thanks to the sterling work of
Lyon & Turnbull, the big bottle gets to
start its next Intrepid chapter in a new
place with a new guardian who hopefully
has plans to put it on display where it
belongs. The story continues…
"And from a company point of view, I
know that our MD Daniel is already
cooking up his next mad whisky-themed
project, so stay tuned!"
If you were not the lucky bidder for the £1.1m
bottle of The Intrepid,
The Macallan 32 Year Old
all is not lost you will
find the current Macallan whisky range
available
from specialist online whisky retailers
such as
The Whisky Exchange,
Hard To Find Whisky
and
Master of Malt
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