Each bottle was bought by an international businessman for his private collection for US$600,000 at Le Clos, a Dubai airport luxury spirits retailer.

Geoff Kirk, director of prestige, The Macallan, said: “These represent some of the most exclusive bottles ever produced making this an iconic sale that will be remembered worldwide for years to come.”

The two bottles were distilled in 1926 and aged for 60 years in sherry-seasoned oak barrels before being bottled and released in 1986. 

Of the 40 bottles produced, just 12 were given to British artist Sir Peter Blake, famed for co-creating the Beatles’ album cover for Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and 12 were given to the Italian artist Valerio Adami, (released in 1993) a famous pop artist of the 21st century. 

Each artist created a unique label for the bottles, making them collectables and they originally retailed at £20,000, with the last known individual bottle being sold in 2007 at Christie’s for US$75,000.

Kirk added: “It is incredibly rare for The Macallan 1926 to be made available for purchase, and the sale offers whisky connoisseurs the chance to secure historic bottles emblematic of 20th century pop culture.”