Blender and distiller Whyte & Mackay is giving away bottles of its 50-year-old blended Scotch whisky, worth £5,000 each.

The Glasgow-based blender will give away 1,500 bottles of its Whyte & Mackay Rare 50 Year Old, created to mark the company’s 175th anniversary, as part of a promotional competition.

The company said that rather than sell the whisky through retailers, it intended to give the bottles away ‘to thank fans for their loyalty’.

Whyte & Mackay Rare 50 Year Old has been matured in a combination of ex-Bourbon barrels, Matusalem oloroso Sherry butts, one Tawny Port pipe and 30-year-old Apostoles Sherry butts.

Bottled at 44.6% abv, the whisky is said to contain notes of ‘macerated plums and Manuka honey, along with sticky toffee pudding’.

To enter, participants will need to purchase a promotional 70cl or one-litre bottle of Whyte & Mackay blended Scotch, available from retailers across the UK, and enter the bottle’s unique code into the brand’s website.

The competition is open from now until 31 December, with prizes drawn on a monthly basis.

Ruairi Perry, head of blended whisky brands at Whyte & Mackay, said: ‘We’ve been making award winning whisky since 1844 and this expression is, by far, the most complex and amazing blend we’ve ever bottled. 

‘It’s extremely rare to find a 50-year-old blended whisky of this calibre – it’s only available to shoppers that enter the competition.’

Whyte & Mackay is the second company in recent years to give away an old and rare whisky.

Since October 2018, Craigellachie has been opening and sharing bottles of its 51-year-old single malt whisky at balloted events around the world.