Whisky Auction Update February 16th, 2024: Willett, Van Winkle Among the Notables

The month of February is off to a solid start, with some notable older whiskies going under the hammer. Unicorn Auctions held two sales this month already, with the pick of the bottles reaching five-figure sums. Van Winkle rarities such as Van Winkle Special Reserve 20 year old for Cork ‘n Bottle ($22,500) and Old Rip Van Winkle Family Reserve Delilah’s 10th Anniversary Private Barrel ($19,800) topped the February No Reserves auction, and would make proud additions to any collector’s trophy cabinet. Speyside Whisky Auctions scored big this month too, setting a substantial new house record when it sold a bottle of Macallan 1950 Tales of The Macallan Volume I for $62,940. The second release in this Macallan series, aged for 73 years, was recently released and priced at $89,000.

Unicorn Auctions January 2024 Auction Parts I–III

Auctions ended February 4th

• American: Willett Family Estate 22 year old Doug’s Black Ink Private Barrel Selection (Barrel 8), $15,000. This early Willett private barrel selection bottling was the highest-priced bottle at this sale.
• Scotch: Macallan Select Reserve 1946 52 year old, $10,100. This auction favorite is not just a seriously old Macallan, but also a classic bottling from when the distillery was using peated malt.
• Japanese: Yamazaki 18 year old Mizunara 100^th Anniversary, $1,580. A 95-point Yamazaki single malt released for the centenary of the House of Suntory.

Whisky Auctioneer January 2024 Auction

Auction ended February 5^th

• Scotch: Macallan The Red Collection 60 year old, $162,889. Another bottle of this release topped our monthly list in August 2023, though then it sold for the significantly higher sum of $258,992.
• Japanese: Karuizawa Pearl Geisha 37 year old Cask No. 4056, $40,096. Elixir Distillers released this sherried Karuizawa in 2018.
• American: Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 23 year old, $11,402. The 1999 release, and the first of the three Pappy Van Winkle 23 year old releases dipped and sealed with gold wax.

Scotch Whisky Auctions The 152nd Auction

Auction ended February 11th

• Scotch: Black Bowmore 1964 42 year old, $18,302. This was the fourth release of Black Bowmore, and launched the Bowmore Trilogy in 2007.
• Japanese: The Cask of Yamazaki 1990, $5,554. Also a 2007 release, this was a 17 year old single cask from a sherry butt.
• English: The Lakes The Whiskymaker’s Editions Milky Way, $1,262. A limited edition created by former master blender Dhavall Ghandi that used a vanilla oatmeal stout-seasoned bourbon barrel, marking a departure from their usual sherry cask style.

Lot of the Week

Aside from the Super Bowl, Lunar New Year was the other big event of last week, and many bottles of specially packaged whisky will have been exchanged as gifts to welcome in the Year of the Dragon. Whiskies with limited-edition packaging, even if they still contain the same whisky that’s available year-round, certainly can be collectible, but they seldom reach great sums when they go under the hammer. Astute sellers try to plan ahead to ensure these seasonal bottles end up in the right auction to coincide with the next occurrence of the event, be it Lunar New Year, Fèis Ìle, or the Kentucky Derby. So with that in mind, Glenfiddich Reserva Rum Cask Finish 21 year old is the lot of the week for two reasons. First, while it may be one of the best 21 year old whiskies around, the colorful Lunar New Year packaging drew a hammer price below normal retail values, suggesting these whiskies are best enjoyed during the celebrations rather than put away in the belief they will be worth a fortune one day. Second, the Glenfiddich 21 year old Reserva Rum Cask Finish was the closest thing Scottish science fiction writer and whisky lover Iain M. Banks (1954–2013) came to finding his perfect dram in his brilliantly entertaining scotch whisky book “Raw Spirit,” so on the occasion of what would have been his 70^th birthday on February 16^th, this one’s for him.

Lot: Glenfiddich Reserva Rum Cask Finish 21 year old Lunar New Year
Sold at: Scotch Whisky Auction
Hammer Price: $202

Upcoming Auctions

Bottles to bid on in the next few weeks:

March 1^st, Sotheby’s: Macallan Lalique 1937 Golden Age of Travel – The Motor Car Sotheby’s hosts its first Hong Kong whisky auction of the year with a deep selection of Karuizawa and collectible scotch, including the first time Sotheby’s has put this Lalique decanter of Macallan on the block.

March 2^nd, Whiskyauction.com: Gordon & MacPhail Port Ellen 1969 With some of the oldest-ever Port Ellen whiskies distilled in the 1970s released just ahead of the distillery reopening in March, here’s a rare chance to try a much younger 15 year old Gordon & MacPhail bottling, distilled at the end of the 1960s. Last year, Gordon & MacPhail released a 94 point Port Ellen 42 year old distilled in 1981.