A new world record was set today (28 September), with a bottle of whisky selling at auction for a remarkable £29,400.

The Bowmore single malt whisky is the oldest bottle of Bowmore known to be in existence and is believed to have been bottled on Islay around 1850 by W & J Mutter. It was being sold on behalf of a private owner during the fine and rare whisky wine and port auction held at McTears auctioneers in Glasgow.

Purchased by an anonymous telephone bidder, lot number 152 was the highlight of the action recommended to reach between £15,000 and 20,000, with the expected crowd bursting into rapturous applause on completion of the sale.

The hand blown pale green glass bottle and original cardboard carton in which it has been stored had been in good condition until one week before the sale. The delicate driven cork had dropped from the neck of the bottle into the whisky itself, leaving this extremely rare bottle requiring some renovation for the lucky purchaser.

The bidding went down to a two telephone race against Morrison Bowmore Distillers ltd, owner of Bowmore Distillery. Bowmore brand director, Glen Moore, who lost out to the final bid, explained: “We’d known about the sale of the Mutter bottle for some time and had our heart set on bringing it back to its true spiritual home, where it could take pride of place within our new visitor centre.

 “We bid beyond the value limit we had set ourselves, but unfortunately, the winning bidder went beyond that. There are some serious whisky collectors around the world, and we know Bowmore is incredibly popular amongst them. Who knows, perhaps the new owner might want to have it on display at Bowmore with his name against it!”

The bottle was presented to William Mutter in 1851 at the time of him giving up his share of the distillery and has remained in the family for generations. It had been inherited by a family descendent and was accompanied with hand written provenance.

Bowmore Distillery is home to the oldest Islay single malt whisky having been founded in 1779. Twin brothers William and James Mutter operated the distillery from the 1850s until the early1890s when Bowmore Distillery Company Limited was formed.