Whisky Auction Update April 21st: Sotheby's Reaches for New World Records

Sotheby’s, Hong Kong set new record prices for Macallan The Reach 81 year old and Yamazaki 50 year old First Edition in the first week of April as they marked 50 years of doing business in Asia. Both bottles achieved the same hammer price of HK$3.8million ($484,000), becoming the highest hammer prices for single bottles this year. This new Macallan record for the oldest bottle of whisky ever sold at auction eclipsed Sotheby’s existing record for the special one-of-one edition of the Macallan The Reach 81 year old sold in London in 2022. Sotheby's, New York also soared with the last remaining set of United Distiller's The Rare American Whiskey Selection, which hit a record-setting price.

Scotch Whisky Auctions

Auction ended April 9^th

• Scotch: Macallan The Red Collection 40 year old $22,354. Released in 2020, this saw the 40 year old join The Red Collection, Macallan's series of mature age statement whiskies reflecting the natural red colors found in the whisky.
• Japanese: Karuizawa 29 year old Cask No. 8897, $21,112. This bottling, matured in a single bourbon cask, was part of a two-bottle release that included a 30 year old single cask bottling matured in a sherry cask.
• American: Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 23 year old $3,726. A 2019 release of the oldest age statement in the annual Pappy Van Winkle releases.

Whisky Auctioneer

Auction ended April 10^th

• Scotch: Macallan The Red Collection 78 year old, $74,143. This is the oldest bottling to date in The Red Collection.
• Japanese: Karuizawa Noh Whisky 1971 41 year old Cask No. 1842 $61,786. Only 82 bottles of this bourbon cask-matured Karuizawa were released by Number One Drinks Company for a German importer in 2013.
• American: Van Winkle 1974 16 year old $8,403. A gold wax-topped bottle of Van Winkle bottled for the Japanese market.

Unicorn Auctions

Auction ended April 16^th

• American: Old Rip Van Winkle Blue Smoke 18 year old, $30,900. This sale set a new world-record hammer price for this rare bourbon bottled for the Manhattan restaurant famous for its barbecue.
• Scotch: Macallan 30 year old Sherry Oak (2018 Release), $4,400. The classic sherry oak bottling always finds a buyer.
• Japanese: Yamazaki Limited Edition 2014, $1,510. A special edition creation combining 20 year old Yamazaki with younger stock.

Just Whisky

Auction Ended April 17th

• Scotch: Gordon & MacPhail Generations Mortlach 75 year old, $27,495. A new record hammer price for this well-aged Speyside whisky distilled in 1939.
• English: The Lakes Genesis $5,561. Limited edition whiskies from the Lakes are clearly striking a chord with collectors.

Lot of the Week

This Glenfarclas collectible always makes quite a statement. It was custom-built to house 50 vintages of the Glenfarclas Family Casks range from 1954-2003 in 200ml bottles. The family-owned Speyside distillery created 60 of these beautiful pieces and released them in 2018 for a price of £100,000/$128,000. Sadly, it has never achieved anywhere close to its retail price at auction and this sale made an identical hammer price to when it was first offered by Sotheby’s in March 2020. As it contains 10 liters of whisky and weighs around 660 pounds fully loaded, it might be best to wait until one pops up at your local auction house to save on shipping costs.

Lot: Glenfarclas The Family Casks Trunk
Sold at: April 14^th at Sotheby’s, London
Hammer Price: $68,287

Upcoming Auctions

Bottles to watch in auctions ending in the next week:

April 23^rd, Irish Whisky Auctions: Midleton Very Rare 30^th Anniversary Pearl Edition. With only 117 bottles released, Irish Whiskey Auctions set a world record for this bottle in February. Will this bottle go higher?

April 23^rd, Unicorn Auctions: Wild Turkey Tribute 15 year old. A Japanese import bottle of this age statement Wild Turkey from 2004, signed by master distiller Jimmy Russell, released to mark his 50^th anniversary at the company.

April 27th, Bonhams Skinner: Hibiki 30 year old. It’s about as rare on the shelves as it is at auction; this stunning 95 point Japanese whisky from Suntory is aged to perfection.