The Macallan 1926 featuring a Valerio Adami label was sold at Sotheby’s in London on Saturday, overtaking the previous £1.5m record.

It is one of 40 from the 1986 bottling, each with a different label, and one of which is known to have been drunk.

The whisky aged in sherry casks for six decades in Aberlour before finally being bottled, the Press and Journal reports. 

Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s head of spirits, said: “This recordbreaking result for The Macallan 1926 is nothing short of momentous for the whisky industry as a whole.

“This new record result for The Macallan Adami feels all the more emotional for me, having worked directly with the consignor and distillery to recondition, nose and authenticate this bottle.”