An auction is under way featuring a unique Macallan whisky collection that is estimated to sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Four bottles of whisky featuring caricatures of the world-famous Roca brothers are expected to fetch more than £200,000 at an online auction.
The one-of-a-kind collection will go under the hammer at Speyside Whisky Auctions in Forres where there is expected to be a great deal of interest in the 18-year-old Macallan set.
A local artist drew the caricatures of the three Roca brothers, Joan, Josep and Jordi, that were featured on the bottles to mark the 30th anniversary of their three Michelin-starred restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca, in Girona, Catalonia, Spain, five years ago.
Macallan’s 18-year-old is one of the distillers’ statement bottles and the Roca Brothers have collaborated with the whisky brand many times over the years.
Unique collection
Darren Robertson, managing director at Speyside Whisky Auctions, is excited to have such a unique collection on their books.
He said that in 2016, local artist Colin Rizza was asked to create caricatures of the Roca brothers for their 30th anniversary of the restaurant which opened in 1986.
There is one caricature of each of the brothers on each of the three bottles and there is one of the three of them together, making four bottles in total in the collection.
The set of 18-year-old, believed to be one of a kind, was gifted to the artist, who subsequently passed them on to the current owner.
Darren continued: “The bottles were loaned to Macallan for their opening in 2018. They had them in their whisky wall and kept them for a period of time before returning them to the seller.”
The auction is expected to create a great deal of interest among collectors, although the estimated sale price of more than £200,000 will make it a pretty exclusive company.
“The auction is now live, along with another auction this week which includes other bottles with labels created by the same artist which we put out there first to whet the appetite of the collectors,” added Darren.