Bidders took their pick of the rarities in the early days of 2025. Whisky Auctioneer delivered the highest prices of the month so far, with a bottle of Macallan The Reach 81 year old leading the field. Not far behind, a bottle of Port Ellen 12 year old created for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Port Ellen Maltings on August 9th 1980 sold for $80,796. If the bottle shape looks familiar, it’s because this expression was bottled in the same design that was used for Oban in the early 1980s. The sale also saw a late bid secure a bottle of Glenfiddich 1937 64 year old for $43,843, one of the 61 bottles of this rare Glenfiddich released in 2001.
Single malt scotch is attracting the month’s highest prices so far. Bowmore topped Whisky Hammer’s auction with sales of the first bottle of Bowmore ARC-52 to sell in over a year, along with a bottle of Black Bowmore 1964 50 year old The Last Cask, which fetched $37,258. In addition, a bottle of Brora 1972 40 year old was auctioned for $25,584.
The highest-value American whiskey of the month to date, a bottle of LeNell’s Red Hook Rye 24 year old Barrel No. 4, sold for $31,100. That’s a significant drop in value from the $45,000 it pulled in last month, but LeNell’s took fifth place in our 2024 auction table using data from our 20-highest hammer prices of the month, and rarely does a collectible bottle exceed a high price if it’s listed for auction soon after that sale. Overall, compared to the 20-highest hammer prices of January 2024, netting a combined sum of $637,064, whisky auctions in January 2025 had exceeded that total by the end of the first week, indicating that this year is off to a strong start.
Whisky Hammer December Auction
Auction ended January 5th
- Scotch: Bowmore ARC-52, $38,810. With only 100 bottles produced, the last sale of this Bowmore Aston Martin collaboration to make the 20-highest hammer prices of the month was in November 2023.
- Japanese: Karuizawa 1969 Cask No. 8183, $9,811. A Number One Drinks Company expression bottled in 2012 from a single bourbon cask.
- Indian: Indri Diwali Collector’s Edition 2023, $435. This 92-point single cask of peated Indian single malt was matured in a Pedro Ximénez sherry cask and cost $140 on release.
Whisky Auctioneer Extended December 2024 Auction
Auction ended January 6th
- Scotch: Macallan The Reach 81 year old, $106,475. Whisky Auctioneer made the first sale of this expression in six months, despite it being listed at various auctions during that time. The last bottle sold before this one went for $192,377, which was the highest hammer price for a bottle of scotch in 2024.
- Japanese: Karuizawa Pearl Geisha 37 year old Cask No. 4056, $35,074. The last time this bottle made the 20-highest hammer prices of the month was February 2024, when Whisky Auctioneer sold it for $40,096.
- Irish: Redbreast 1989 Single Port Cask 30 year old Cask No. 38635, $1,378. This aged single pot still whiskey was exclusively bottled from a ruby port cask for The Whisky Exchange, London.
Unicorn Auctions December Curated II
Auction ended January 6th
- Scotch: Macallan in Lalique 65 year old, $65,900. The final expression in the Six Pillars collection was this 2016 release of 450 bottles, which originally cost $35,000 per bottle.
- Rye: LeNell’s Red Hook Rye 24 year old Barrel No. 4, $31,100. Single cask Kentucky straight rye bottled at 68% for the now defunct Brooklyn liquor store. LeNell’s reopened in Birmingham, Alabama in 2018.
- Japanese: Scotch Malt Whisky Society Miyagikyo 124.1 1998 16 year old, $1,070. This is SMWS’s first single cask of Miyagikyo; it was bottled at 59.4% in 2005.
Lot of the Week
This Famous Grouse 40 year old blended malt, one of 276 bottles released in 2013, was donated for auction to benefit The BEN, the Scottish charity that supports the drinks and hospitality industry. The annual charity event has been running since 2018, and included 84 lots this year, sold as part of Whisky Auctioneer’s December auction. Former Edrington master blender John Ramsay picked the casks for this special bottling, and the blend, reviewed here, was completed by Gordon Motion, now master whisky maker for Highland Park. This is the oldest age statement whisky ever released by Famous Grouse. Changes at the brand’s parent company since its release make this a notable bottling in the history of this storied brand. The Edrington Group sold Glenturret Distillery, the home of Famous Grouse, in 2018, and sold the Famous Grouse brand to William Grant & Sons in 2024. 
Lot: Famous Grouse 40 year old
Sold at: Whisky Auctioneer, 6th January 2025
Hammer Price: $783
Upcoming Auctions:
January 21st, Spink, China. Leading Spink’s Entering the Year of the Snake auction is a cask of Springbank 1992 organic whisky, currently bonded at Dà Mhìle Distillery in Wales. The whisky in this refill sherry hogshead from Campbeltown, currently aged 32 years old, is one of only two remaining from the original 15 casks filled for Dà Mhìle, and contains sufficient whisky for 203 (700ml) bottles.
January 25th, Sotheby’s, New York. Promising over 200 lots of historic bourbon and rye, this sale of America’s Finest Whiskeys includes a bottle of Stewart Pure Rye 1898.
