Whisky Auction Update: Pappy Fever Fades, Macallan Oversupply, Yamazaki Leads

The June auction market got off to an impressive start, with a bottle of Yamazaki 55 year old selling at the highest hammer price of the year, thanks to a $200,000 bid at Bonhams Skinner, Massachusetts. Yamazaki’s value has fared well in the current market; the last bottle of this Japanese whisky to sell at a U.S. auction house made $210,200 a year ago. Last year, the three highest hammer prices were all Japanese single malts, and two of them were Yamazaki 55 year old.

Sotheby’s sold antique spirits this month, the prized collection of Mark Wade, co-founder of the Vintage Whiskey Society. Most of the historic bourbon and ryes achieved hammer prices in the range of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, and many exceeded their estimates. Three vintage bottles made $10,000 a piece; Old Stagg Special Reserve 24 year old, Four Roses 1917 16 year old, and Old McBrayer 1917 17 year old. These were eclipsed by the $24,000 bid for a relatively modern bottle of LeNell’s Red Hook Rye Barrel No. 3 at Sotheby’s, while Unicorn Auction’s Father’s Day Epic Rye sale included nine bottles of bourbon and rye that each sold for more than $10,000, including some of the most collectible Willett expressions ever released. Macallan The Red Collection had a successful month in May, but it appears the market has become oversupplied: a bottle of Macallan The Red Collection 78 year old went unsold at Sotheby’s, New York, with another bottle going unsold at Zachy’s auction in New York the following day.

Demand for Pappy Van Winkle at auction has outstripped supply for many years; just look at the $35,000 bid for a dozen bottles of Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 23 year old at Sotheby’s, New York recently. However, not all bottles of Pappy are selling at auction these days: Nearly 130 Van Winkle bottles were up for sale at two recent U.S. auctions, and 20% of them were left on the block. Sotheby’s, New York had unsold bottles of the 2021 Release and 2023 Release of Pappy Van Winkle 20 year old, three bottles of Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13 year old, and 12 bottles of Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 year old Lot ‘B,’ while Bonhams Skinner was left with several unsold bottles of Old Rip Van Winkle 10 year old and Pappy Van Winkle 15 year old. If Pappy demand at auction falls due to high asking prices, it could have an impact on the eagerness of flippers looking to buy and resell the 2025 Pappy releases when they arrive later in the year.

Unicorn Auctions – May 2025 No Reserves IV

Auction ended June 2^nd

• Rye: LeNell’s Red Hook Rye Barrel No. 2, $31,100. Quite a month for LeNell bottles, with Barrel No. 2 taking the highest LeNell hammer price of the month.
• Bourbon: Corti Brothers Van Winkle Special Reserve 20 year old, $20,100. A 1974 distillate, bottled for the wine merchants in Sacramento.
• Scotch: Springbank Millennium 35 year old, $4,425. These collectible Campbeltown whiskies from the Millennium have been auctioned both individually and as full sets this month.

Whisky Auctioneer May 2025 Auction

Auction ended June 9^th

• Scotch: Macallan 1967 Anecdotes of Ages Collection: Down to Work $33,909. One of the recent rare bottlings of Macallan 1967 released in 2021 with labels illustrated by Sir Peter Blake.
• Japan: Karuizawa Platinum Geisha 40 year old Cask No. 1650, $20,345. Both Platinum Geisha expressions sold in this auction, but Cask No. 1650 edged ahead with a slightly higher hammer price than its companion.

Sotheby’s, New York – Whiskey & Whisky, Featuring a Vintage Whisky Collection

Auction ended June 12^th

• Rye: LeNell’s Red Hook Rye Barrel No. 3, $24,000. LeNell’s is the second-highest U.S. whiskey brand in our table of the 20 highest hammer prices of the month.
• Scotch: White Bowmore 1964 43 year old, $13,000. The middle bottling from the Bowmore Trilogy series.
• Bourbon: Four Roses 1917 16 year old, $10,000. Produced by Colonel Albert B. Blanton in Frankfort, KY, this quart was the first of three vintage whiskeys to hit this hammer price in the sale.

Lot of the Week: Oban’s Sudden Stardom

Certain universal truths must be acknowledged about whisky collecting in 2025. Flipping, with the sole desire of making three or four times the retail price, is largely over. Bottles that provoke competition at auction so fiercely that prices are driven sky high is now a rare occurrence. Diageo Special Releases used to sell out on their day of release, whereas now, the bottles are still available when the next year’s set is released. But there are exceptions. Oban 1969 32 year old, released in 2002, was one of 6,000 bottles and was the distillery’s first appearance in the Diageo Special Releases series. The bottle at Sotheby’s lacked its original presentation tube and was estimated at $1,000–$1,500, but sold for $6,000—four times its high estimate, making it the fifth-highest priced bottle of scotch in the entire sale. That Oban sold for far more than the Diageo Special Releases of Brora and Port Ellen in the sale, and more than nearly all of the vintage bourbon and ryes. That lot was followed by the Oban 21 year old from the Diageo Special Releases 2013, which carried an estimate of $200–$300, but then sold for a hammer price of $1,800—six times its high estimate. While the Oban 1969 32 year old was released over 20 years ago, it was produced in good quantities, so this result at Sotheby’s suggests it could be worth adding one to your collection if you manage to track down a bottle.

Lot: Oban 1969 32 year old
Sold at: Sotheby’s, New York, June 12^th 2025
Hammer Price: $6,000

Upcoming Auctions:

June 22^nd, Whisky Hammer: June 2025. A debut auction appearance for Johnnie Walker Vault X Olivier Rousteing Couture Expression Winter, and there’s a bottle of Glenlivet 55 year old The Eternal Collection on the block.

June 26^th, Bonhams Skinner, Massachusetts: The Encyclopedic Whisky Collection. Part one is a live auction of some of the rarest bottles from Glenfiddich, Balvenie, and Macallan.

June 27^th, Sotheby’s, Singapore: Fine and Rare Whisky. This sale is dominated by rare Macallan, Glenfiddich, Balvenie, and small amounts of cognac, rum, and tequila.

June 30^th, Bonhams Skinner, Massachusetts: The Encyclopedic Whisky Collection No Reserve Online Edition. Part two of this sale is worth checking out, as there are no reserves, and everything must go. If quality scotch whisky is your thing, there could be some good deals up for grabs.