Reuniting a trinity of globally acclaimed artists who previously created artworks for the now legendary The Macallan 1926 – Sir Peter Blake, Valerio Adami and Michael Dillon – The Macallan Romantica Collection introduces a new vintage and range of artworks that pays homage to whisky’s eternal masterpiece..
The Macallan has launched Romantica Collection, an exceptionally rare single cask release and 1986 Vintage, created to mark the centenary of The Macallan 1926, the world’s most valuable bottle of wine or spirit ever sold at auction.
Laid down by brand custodian Janet ‘Nettie’ Harbinson 100 years ago and bottled 60 years later at the apex of its maturation by her great nephew Allan Shiach, this cask produced just 40 precious bottles of The Macallan 1926.
As its maturation came to an end in 1986, another journey was just beginning. A single sherry seasoned European oak cask, no. 9925, was filled and laid down in a quiet corner of a warehouse on The Macallan Estate, which is now being unveiled in 2026 as Romantica Collection.
In a notable creative reunion, the three globally acclaimed artists who contributed original art for The Macallan 1926 – Sir Peter Blake, Valerio Adami and Michael Dillon – return with new works conceived exclusively for Romantica Collection. Together, they form a modern trinity whose artistic legacies continue to shape the most celebrated bottles in the world of whisky.
Each artist contemplated the journey undertaken by The Macallan during cask no. 9925’s years of slumber, from 1986 to 2026, and interpreted this in their own unique style with a depth, complexity and vibrancy mirrored in the character of the whisky that bears their art. Re-entering the world of The Macallan, each artist has produced a new artwork that responds to the themes – Time Travel, Nature and Community – through their own distinctive lens:
Acclaimed pop artist Sir Peter Blake’s collage, titled The Music Room, transports viewers to Easter Elchies House – the spiritual brand home of The Macallan as immortalised on every bottle – in 1986, where guests gather to celebrate the opening of The Macallan Octagon Room, a music room inside the manor house and a symbol of community at the heart of The Macallan.
Renowned for his distinctive style of narrative figuration, Valerio Adami’s bold composition, Romantica (1986), portrays Janet ‘Nettie’ Harbinson – custodian of The Macallan at the time the 1926 was distilled – standing in a bold red dress with a backdrop of the Scottish landscape, bridging past and future through a reflective reinterpretation of the 1926 bottle.
Mural artist and decorative painter Michael Dillon’s evocative landscape, The Macallan Estate, captures the natural beauty of Speyside and reveals the Estate’s modern distillery nestled almost imperceptibly beneath its undulating green roof, inspired by the beauty and fragility of nature.
Exclusively avaible direct from Macallan the Romantica Collection is priced at $105,000 / £78,000 for the trio bottle set
