81-year-old Scotch sells for $54,000

NEW YORK - A bottle of 81-year-old Scotch sold for $54,000 at this New York's first liquor auction since Prohibition.

An anonymous collector bought the pricey potable at Christie's sale of wines and spirits on Saturday.

The 100-lot auction sold a total of $304,800 worth of rare wine and liquor.

The top lot was a collection of 729 bottles of whisky, which went for $102,000.

The $54,000 bottle was distilled at Macallan in Scotland in 1926, bottled in 1986 and rebottled in 2002.

Prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933, but New York State did not allow auctions of spirits until this year.

The auction prices include Christie's 20 percent commission.