A bottle of 60-year-old whisky has sold for a world record of almost $1.1 million (£850,000).

The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 — dubbed the Holy Grail of whisky by connoisseurs — topped the previous best by about $45,000 (£35,000).

The UK-based seller had picked up the rare bottle direct from the Macallan distillery for $5,000 (£4,000) in 1994.

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They knew it to be rare but decided to sell when another bottle of the spirit sold for $1 million (£814,081) — the record at that time — in Hong Kong in May. It was bought by a private telephone bidder from Asia during the auction by Bonhams in Edinburgh yesterday.

The auctioneers’ whisky specialist Martin Green said: “I am delighted at this exceptional result. It is a great honor to have established a new world record, and particularly exciting to have done so here in Scotland — the home of whisky.

"Bonhams now holds the record for the three most valuable bottles of whisky sold at auction.”

The whisky is described as being 60 years old, as it was created in 1926 and bottled in 1986. Macallan commissioned pop artists Valerio Adami and Peter Blake to design labels for a limited edition of 24 bottles — 12 Adami and 12 Blake.

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