NFT Tied to Rare Whiskey Cask Auctions for $2.3M

A non-fungible barrel of 1991 Macallans Scotch set whiskey auction records Friday, nabbing $2.3 million in the form of an non-fungible token (NFT).

The sale, hosted by NFT marketplace Metacask, surpasses the previous cask sale record price of $574,000 for a similar barrel at auction house Bonhams last August. This edition came bundled with digital art from Trevor Jones.

A pseudonymous buyer who goes by “oldcask” outbid two other bidders active in digital whiskey investments, a PR representative told CoinDesk. The company declined to identify the buyer.

The NFT serves as a digital title for the cask of the whiskey. It was minted on the Ethereum blockchain.

Co-founder Nim Siriwardana said the cask NFT was minted and auctioned to showcase the appeal of digitally transferable rights.

“Buyers don’t need to go to a physical auction house to acquire rare and valuable real assets like whisky,” Siriwardana said in a statement.

NFT sales have become increasingly mainstream and popular during the coronavirus pandemic. Sales volumes surged to $10.7 billion in Q3 of 2021, more than eight times more than the second quarter, according to data by DappRadar.