The Macallan Romantica Collection is an ultra-rare 40 Year Old Single Cask tribute to the world’s most valuable whisky

The Macallan has announced the Romantica Collection, a prestige single cask release to mark the centenary of The Macallan 1926, the legendary whisky that has repeatedly broken auction records.

Distilled in 1926 and bottled 60 years later, it remains the most valuable bottle of wine or spirit ever sold. The last known sale of The Macallan 1926 was on November 18 2023, when a bottle, featuring the Valerio Adami label, sold at Sotheby’s for £2,187,500. 

The Romantica Collection centres on a single sherry-seasoned European oak cask, number 9925, filled in 1986. Each bottle features artwork by Sir Peter Blake, Valerio Adami, or Michael Dillon.

At 48.6% ABV, and presented in its natural colour, the release is limited to just 258 bottles worldwide, divided equally between the three artists, with 86 allotted to each. The collection will only be sold as a trinity, so no cherry picking.

At 48.6% ABV, and presented in its natural colour, the whisky is limited to just 258 bottles worldwide…

Sir Peter Blake, Valerio Adami and Michael Dillon reunite

The collection reunites three celebrated figures from the story of The Macallan 1926: Sir Peter Blake, Valerio Adami and Michael Dillon. The trio, who previously created artwork associated with the iconic 1926 release, have returned to produce new artworks.

Sir Peter Blake, the pioneering British pop artist best known for co-creating the sleeve for The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, presents The Music Room. His collage imagines a gathering at Easter Elchies House, Macallan‘s spiritual home, in 1986. 

Italian artist Valerio Adami contributes Romantica (1986), a colourful composition depicting Janet ‘Nettie’ Harbinson, custodian of Macallan when the famous 1926 spirit was distilled. Set against a Scottish landscape, the work connects the brand’s past and present through Adami’s distinctive narrative style.

Finally, mural artist Michael Dillon turns his attention to Speyside itself. His painting, The Macallan Estate, depicts the natural landscape surrounding the distillery, including the modern production facility that sits discreetly beneath its rolling grass-covered roof. 

The Macallan Romantica Collection tasting notes

So what of the liquid itself? With a profile shaped by four decades in European oak, the nose reportedly offers aromas of apricot conserve, canned peaches and bittersweet toffee, followed by crystallised ginger, cinnamon, antique oak and delicate woodsmoke.

The palate delivers brown sugar sweetness, glazed peach and tropical lychee before developing deeper notes of dark cherries, treacle and a subtle thread of peat. The finish, we’re told, is long and carries lingering dried fruit, gentle leather and rich cacao.

Each bottle is housed in a bespoke European oak presentation case decorated with corresponding artwork. Inside, collectors will find a numbered certificate signed by Master Whisky Maker Kirsteen Campbell, a collection booklet and a limited-edition giclée art print unique to the chosen artist edition. Every bottle label is personally signed by the artist.

Kirsteen Campbell describes the release as a continuation of a story that began with The Macallan 1926. The whisky’s 40-year maturation, she says, has created an expression defined by fruit, spice and oak, while the newly commissioned artworks provide a creative reflection of that same journey through time.

“To see this expression now paired with new artworks from Sir Peter Blake, Valerio Adami and Michael Dillon is deeply moving,” she says. “Their interpretations mirror the whisky’s own journey: layered, imaginative and shaped by time. It’s a privilege to present a single-cask release that connects so profoundly with our heritage.” 

The Macallan Romantica Collection is expected to retail for $105,000, for the full three‑bottle set, when it goes on sale July 30 2026.