A rare whisky celebrating the 20th anniversary of one of Scotland's most famous literary detectives is to be auctioned.

The bottle of Highland Park was created to celebrate the gruff, dram-swilling detective, Inspector John Rebus.

It was given to people associated with author Ian Rankin's books, but has never appeared for sale in shops.

Bearing the legend REBUS20, it has been described by auctioneers Bonhams as being in "perfect condition" and is likely to fetch up to £1000 later this month.

Bonhams' whisky expert, Martin Green, said: "This product was not on the open market, it was never available at retail so you would probably have had to have known someone at Highland Park to get one at all.

"I would think the Rebus whisky will do well. Not just among whisky collectors but possibly amongst Rebus fans as well."

Highland Park is the whisky drunk by the Edinburgh detective in his final outing "Exit Music".

Rebus author Rankin travelled to the distillery himself in 2006 and tasted a number of 20-year-old whiskies before settling on the Rebus20.

He has previously described the Rebus malt as "rugged, manly, darker, smokier" and compared it to his literary creation.

He said: "We can describe it as being like Rebus, dark and complex with a long finish."