Whisky Auction Update: 20 Highest Single Bottle Hammer Prices for February

Macallan dominated the whisky auction scene in February, taking nine of the 10-highest hammer prices for the month. Among the stars were bottlings from The Red Collection, including the 60 year old, 73 year old, and 78 year old, which all made the list. The oldest vintage was a rare bottle of Anniversary Malt 1928 50 year old, which sold for $52,961 at Whisky.Auction, an increase of more than $21,000 over the hammer price paid at Scotch Whisky Auctions in December. Like Macallan, Highland Park, is owned by The Edrington Group. The brand appeared twice on the list of the 20 highest hammer prices in February 2024, and the Orcadian distillery secured its first appearance in 2025 with a bottle of the inaugural Highland Park 50 year old. Meanwhile, The Singleton made its first-ever appearance on the list, with the 90-point second edition of its Paragon of Time series. The combined value of the 20-highest hammer prices in February was $706,890, making the total value of the bottles on the list over the first two months of 2025 up 4% compared to this point in 2024.

American whiskey scored only two bottles on the list this month. A bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle 18 year old Blue Smoke, which previously has been a lot of the week, made $23,400 at Unicorn Auctions, though the same auction house achieved $30,900 for this expression in April 2023. LeNell’s Red Hook rye made a second appearance of the year, keeping its position as the highest-ranked American whiskey so far this year.

Elsewhere, the success of Hibiki 40 year old has seen it continue a four-month streak of top 20 hammer prices of the month appearances, with three entries in February, while Karuizawa scored a fourth bottle of the year on the list.

The 20 Highest Single Bottle Hammer Prices of February 2025

Results converted to dollars using xe.com

20. Macallan Fine & Rare 1979 40 year old
Sold on: February 10th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $18,571

19. Highland Park 50 year old 2010 Release
Sold on: February 10th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $19,191

18. Singleton of Dufftown 1966 54 year old Paragon of Time No. 2
Sold on: February 23^rd at Whisky Hammer
Hammer price: $20,214

17. Macallan 1949 50 year old Millennium Decanter
Sold on: February 10th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $20,628

16. Macallan 1961
Sold on: February 18^th at Whisky.Auction
Hammer price: $20,806

15. Karuizawa 50 year old Water of Life Cask No. 538
Sold on: February 10th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $22,286

14. Old Rip Van Winkle 18 year old Blue Smoke
Sold on: February 24^th at Unicorn Auctions
Hammer price: $23,400

13. Hibiki 40 year old
Sold on: February 27^th at Bonhams Skinner
Hammer price: $24,000

12. Hibiki 40 year old
Sold on: February 10th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $27,857

11. Hibiki 40 year old
Sold on: February 10th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $27,857

10. Macallan 55 year old Six Pillars Collection for Japan
Sold on: February 10th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $28,132

9. LeNell’s Red Hook Rye 23 year old Barrel No. 3
Sold on: February 17^th at Unicorn Auctions
Hammer price: $32,900

8. Macallan Fine & Rare 1950 52 year old
Sold on: February 10th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $35,286

7. Macallan Fine & Rare 1948 53 year old
Sold on: February 3^rd at Unicorn Auctions
Hammer price: $36,200

6. Macallan Fine & Rare 1951 50 year old
Sold on: February 3^rd at Unicorn Auctions
Hammer price: $36,900

5. Macallan The Red Collection 78 year old
Sold on: February 18^th at Whisky.Auction
Hammer price: $51,700

4. Macallan Anniversary Malt 1928 50 year old
Sold on: February 18^th at Whisky.Auction
Hammer price: $52,961

3. Macallan The Red Collection 73 year old
Sold on: February 10th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $53,857

2. Macallan 1949 Tales of the Macallan Volume 2
Sold on: February 10th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $58,810

1. Macallan The Red Collection 60 year old
Sold on: February 10th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $95,334

Each month, we publish the 20-highest hammer prices for single bottles of whisky. This table ranks the 20 brands by the sum of their 20-highest hammer price sales and shows the latest month’s results.