macallan 12 year old - british aerospace spirit of woodford

An incredibly rare Macallan 12 Year Old, this was one of a series of one-off private bottlings done by the distillery for British Aerospace in the late 1980s and was given to the sellers stepfather as a long service award in 1989.

Like many distilleries in the 1980s Macallan had surplus stock and were therefore amenable to private bottlings like this, particularly for prestigious clients.  The bottlings were relabelled versions of the company’s standard 12 year old, so the liquid will be 1970s distilled, fully sherry-matured Macallan.

The British Aerospace bottlings were given custom labels with images of some of the company’s aeroplanes - other known BAe bottles feature the BAe Jetstream and the ATP Advanced Turbo-Prop. 

However, unlike the other known BAe bottlings of Macallan which were ‘Bottled for British Aerospace plc’ this particular Macallan 12-year-old was bottled specifically for British Aerospace Woodford, the aircraft factory and airfield owned by British Aerospace between 1977-2011 where the seller worked until his retirement. 

The bottle image is therefore titled Spirit of Woodford, and features the company’s RJ Family of Airliners on the overlaid label with the same image in colour attached to the outer box.

This is the first Spirit of Woodford Macallan 12 year old we’ve ever encountered and must be among the last surviving bottles of its type. These limited run BAe bottlings of Macallan were given only to staff and VIP customers and were often served to guests at corporate dinners, so only a very few bottles have survived the intervening decades.

Although a condition report is normally included in the Lot description, we do recommend viewing/close inspection prior to placing any bids. If this is not an option and you have questions beyond the offered description and images, please use the form below "Ask A Question" to make specific enquiries or to receive a more in-depth condition report. Otherwise, Lots will be sold as seen and described.

Please note: due to the various ages of bottles, corks and their seals, condition of liquid is at the buyer's discretion. And no claim can be lodged against failure/leakage in transit.

All bottles are checked by our whisky specialists Wayne & Harrison Ormerod prior to any auction. We do not auction opened bottles so therefore all items are sealed unless stated under certain circumstances where seals were never issued by the producer.

No item is deemed new, however many items are generally in good condition. When this is not the case, we aim to mention any faults in the description. The images supplied are of the actual item you will receive. If the filling level of the liquid is not visible in the images provided, we aim to indicate the current position in the description. If the filling level is impossible to determine, such as with ceramics decanters, we will provide an overall weight of the decanter in KG. Our filling level guideline can be found here.

All information in this listing is provided to the best of our knowledge including when we chose to date the age of a bottle. If you are unhappy with the listing or believe there is an error/discrepancy, you should notify us immediately and we will address the Lot accordingly. Placing a bid confirms you have checked the Lot and are satisfied.