Written by Amy Woodyatt, CNN
The second phase of a $ 1 million online whiskey auction has been postponed after becoming the target of a cyber attack, the auctioneers said.
Dubbed "the perfect collection," the minds were amassed by the late Richard Gooding, a private American collector from Colorado.
Gooding has spent decades searching for the perfect collection and has traveled regularly to Scotland to find special bottles at auctions and distilleries, according to the auction house, specialty beverage seller Whiskey Auctioneers.
His entire collection consisted of more than 3,900 bottles - mostly single malt Scotch - some of which individually valued at more than £ 1.2 million ($ 1.4 million), the auctioneers said.
The eclectic mix of whiskeys includes rare and precious bottles of The Macallan, Bowmore and Springbank, as well as now closed distilleries, Stromness Distillery and Dallas Dhu.
The first part of the collection, consisting of over 1,900 bottles, sold for around £ 3.2 million ($ 3.9 million) earlier this year.
The second phase, comprising more than 1,900 bottles - including a bottle of The Macallan 1926 Fine & Rare 60 Year Old, which, according to the Perth-based auctioneer, is expected to raise over £ 1 million at auction (1 , $ 2 million) - took place live on April 10.
The auction was scheduled to close at 7 p.m. local time on April 20, the auctioneers confirmed to CNN, but was postponed for two days, originally attributed to "abnormal excessive loads on the website, which caused technical problems. "
Now, a statement on the auctioneer's website indicates that the sale was in fact targeted by criminals.
"At approximately 9:30 p.m. (BST) on April 21, WhiskeyAuctioneer.com suffered a targeted, technologically sophisticated, sustained and malicious attack on our website and databases," the auctioneer said in a statement on his website. , adding that the second part of the Perfect auction of the collection had been postponed "indefinitely".
"We apologize to those who are disappointed with the postponement of the auction and to those who may be affected by the attack.
"The team here is working very hard to investigate this and minimize the impact on our valued customers as a result of this situation," they added.
Scottish police have told CNN by email that they received a report from a Perth, Scotland-based cyber incident on April 21, and said the investigations were "at an early stage" .
