The world's largest bottle of whisky sold for US$1.4 million at auction

Explorers Dwayne Fields FRGS, Karen Darke MBE, Will Copestake, and Olly Hicks watch The Intrepid being filled with 32 year old Macallan. (Courtesy of Fah Mai and Rosewin Holdings/CNN)

The world's largest bottle of whisky, called "The Intrepid," has sold for about US$1.4 million, according to the auction house Lyon and Turnbull.

The bottle, standing 5 feet 11 inches, was given the Guinness World Record in September 2021. It contains 82.16 U.S. gallons, or 311 litres. That's the equivalent of 444 standard bottles -- enough for 5,287 whisky sours made with 2 ounces of whisky each.

The liquor is a 1989 Macallan single malt that spent 32 years maturing in oak casks at Macallan's Scotland distillery before being bottled in 2021. It is pale gold and has a sweet taste with notes of apple, says the auction house.

It was sold Wednesday to an international collector, according to Lyon and Turnbull.

The Intrepid project was created as a collaboration between Fah Mai, a Thailand-based investment company, and Rosewin Holdings, a London-based firm, which invest in whisky and other spirits.

The project's founder, Daniel Monk, was inspired by his father's "passion for adventure, exploration," says the auction house. The label on the bottle features 11 explorers, including Ranulph Fiennes and Robin Knox-Johnston.

The auction will support several charities, including Marie Curie and Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), says Lyon.

The huge bottle is not the most expensive container of whisky ever sold. That honour goes to a 60-year old Macallan sold for $1.53 million in 2018.