Whisky Auction Update: The 20 Highest Single Bottle Hammer Prices for June

With 11 brands making the cut this month, the competition for which bottles make the monthly list of highest hammer prices is heating up. June’s list produced a combined value of $1,062,769, outperforming June 2023 by 34%. It’s the first month of 2024 to beat last year’s figures, and only the second month to break the million-dollar mark this year, beating the year-earlier month by $267,733. One reason for that was the setting of a new highest hammer price of the year at $210,200, achieved when Unicorn Auctions handled the year’s first successful sale of Yamazaki 55 year old.

For the first 6 months of 2024, some 120 bottles have made the monthly lists of the 20 highest hammer prices, for a combined value of $5.13 million. Last year, the comparable figure was $6.44 million, so despite June’s bump, the year-to-date for 2024 is still down $1.31 million or 20.3%. Before anyone pours their priceless whisky down the drain, it’s worth remembering these figures are only the very highest value bottles at auction, and cannot be extrapolated to represent the secondary market as a whole.

Before the summer break, it’s time to mark the report cards of the four whisky-producing nations that have made our lists this year. American whiskey is having a strong year, claiming 21.7% of the bottles and 17.0% of the value; at this point last year, it was trailing behind with only 9.2% of the bottles and 4.8% of the value. Consequently, the other three categories have lost ground. Scotch is still in front, accounting for 52.5% of the bottles and 62.3% of the value, but that has slipped slightly from 60% of the bottles and 63.5% of the value in the first 6 months of 2023. This year, Japanese whisky has taken 23.3% of the bottles and only 19.4% of the value, in the same ballpark as American whiskey, but that’s down from a 26.7% share of bottles and 29.1% of value up to June 2023. Finally, Irish whiskey—all the bottles are from Midleton—has had 2.5% of the bottles and 1.3% of the value, while this time last year, it claimed 4.2% of the bottles and a 2.6% share of the value.

20. Willett Single Barrel Bourbon 1980 28 year old Cask No. 1056
Sold on: June 13^th at Sotheby’s
Hammer price: $20,000

19. Old Rip Van Winkle 23 year old
Sold on: June 13^th at Sotheby’s
Hammer price: $20,000

18. Macallan Fine & Rare 1952
Sold on: June 17^th at Unicorn Auctions
Hammer price: $22,100

17. Karuizawa 1965 50 year old Cask No. 3037
Sold on: June 10^th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $22,914

16. Midleton Very Rare Vintage 1988
Sold on: June 23^rd at Irish Whiskey Auctions
Hammer price: $22,988

15. Old Rip Van Winkle 23 year old
Sold on: June 17^th at Unicorn Auctions
Hammer price: $23,700

14. A.H. Hirsch Reserve 1974 18 year old
Sold on: June 13^th at Sotheby’s
Hammer price: $26,000

13. Hibiki 35 year old Kutani Ceramic Decanter
Sold on: June 9^th at Sotheby’s
Hammer price: $29,582

12. Karuizawa 1965 Japonisme
Sold on: June 9^th at Sotheby’s
Hammer price: $29,582

11. Old Rip Van Winkle 25 year old
Sold on: June 13^th at Sotheby’s
Hammer price: $30,000

10. Hibiki 35 year old Arita Ceramic Decanter
Sold on: June 9^th at Sotheby’s
Hammer price: $31,071

9. Dalmore 50 year old Crystal Decanter
Sold on: June 10^th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $35,050

8. Old Rip Van Winkle 25 year old
Sold on: June 17^th at Unicorn Auctions
Hammer price: $37,600

7. LeNell’s Red Hook Rye 23 year old Barrel #1
Sold on: June 13^th at Sotheby’s
Hammer price: $38,000

6. Macallan The Red Collection 78 year old
Sold on: June 13^th at Sotheby’s
Hammer price: $55,000

5. Macallan 50 year old in Lalique
Sold on: June 13^th at Sotheby’s
Hammer price: $60,000

4. Macallan The Red Collection 71 year old
Sold on: June 10^th at Whisky Auctioneer
Hammer price: $63,651

3. Buffalo Trace O.F.C. 1982
Sold on: June 17^th at Unicorn Auctions
Hammer price: $122,900

2. Macallan The Reach 81 year old
Sold on: June 12^th at The Grand Whisky Auction
Hammer price: $162,431

1. Yamazaki 55 year old
Sold on: June 17^th at Unicorn Auctions
Hammer price: $210,200

Each month, we publish the 20 highest hammer prices for a single bottle 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.