Can The Macallan Recreate the Magic of Its $2.7 Million Scotch? I Got an Early Taste of The New Romantica Collection

On a recent drizzly grey day in Speyside, Scotland, I stepped into a warehouse at The Macallan's distillery to taste the so-called Romantica Collection, which is a single malt Scotch.

It was an auspicious occasion given that a hundred years to the day the brand had made its now famous 1926 vintage, which has gone on to become the most expensive Scotch of all time-at auction it goes for $2.7 million a bottle.

For 60 years, The Macallan 1926 was actually aged in the warehouse I was standing in. As a white-gloved hand pointed out the original logbook entry from when the barrel was rolled into the building on that fateful day a century ago, glasses were passed around with a bit of the new Romantica Collection whisky, which was created to commemorate the 1926 vintage.

This Romantica Collection was made in 1986, which was the same year that the 1926 vintage was bottled. But the similarities don't end there. The Romantica Collection reunites the three artists who created special labels for the 1926 expression: Sir Peter Blake, Valerio Adami, and Michael Dillon.

Sir Blake is 93 and co-created the album art for The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Adami is 91 and is a European pop art pioneer. Dillon is 69 and is an Irish muralist whose works adorn the walls of private estates and the famous London store, Fortnum & Mason.

Back in 1986, The Macallan filled cask no. 9925 with new make spirit off of its stills. The barrel was made of European oak and had been seasoned with Spanish sherry. It then aged for the last 40 years without being disturbed.

What makes this whisky particularly rare, is The Macallan has a limited stock of casks produced in the 1980s and each one is well guarded. "Every single cask is unique, and you don't know which one will speak to you and tell a new story," said Euan Kennedy, lead whisky maker for The Macallan. "On this occasion, for me, it could only have been that one, cask #9925 from 1986, that had a story to tell."

When pressed about what made him select this particular cask from 1986, Kennedy said, "it's almost a feeling you get when you put your nose in the glass, and this cask just had it."

But this history and rarity has a cost. And a big cost at that. Cask #9925 yielded just 258 bottles of the whisky in total. Instead of selling individual bottles, The Macallan is selling 86 three-bottle sets for $105,000. This way you get all three different designs and each label is signed by the artist who created it.

For the collectors interested in buying the Romantica Collection, there's every reason to believe they'll be rewarded for their investment down the road. "As far as modern whisky release standards go, it's extremely limited," said Jonny Fowle, vice president, global head of whisky for Sotheby's. "We have gone through a period when limited releases were not really all that limited, but this is truly very limited which is quite refreshing."

TastingThe Macallan's Romantica Collection

Matured entirely in a Sherry-seasoned European oak cask, this single malt Scotch was bottled at a potent 97.2 proof (48.6% ABV). A strong, structured whisky, the Romantica Collection has warming notes of ginger, dried apricot, and wood on the palate, but retains a litheness and vibrancy.

The Macallan's Romantica Collection Price & Availability

This Romantica Collection costs $105,000 for a set of three bottles and is only available directly from The Macallan. The whisky will go on sale on July 30. If you are interested in ordering a set of bottles you can email ClientServices@TheMacallan.com.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 27, 2026, where it first appeared in the Drink section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 10:14 AM.