Whisky Auction Update May 17th 2024: Down to the Wire

With many of May’s auctions scheduled toward the end of the month, the first half saw a greater number of Japanese whiskies from Karuizawa and Hanyu break $20,000 than scotch, though scotch took the highest bids. Leading the pack was WVA Whisky Auctions with their sale of a bottle of Macallan The Red Collection 50 year old for $39,167 while Scotch Whisky Auctions sold a bottle of Macallan 1950 Exceptional Cask #13 2018 Release for $37,566. With Dalmore eyeing a place at the top of this month’s highest sales for The Dalmore The Luminary No. 2 49 year old at Sotheby’s on May 31st, it will be interesting to see the month’s final tally. Whisky Auctioneer had an impressive line-up in April (see below), but a bottle of Yamazaki 55 year old and a bottle of Macallan 1950 Tales of the Macallan Volume I failed to make their reserves—both have regularly featured in our monthly list of highest hammer prices. Even in the upcoming Sotheby’s auction, Dalmore will face competition from a bottle of Yamazaki 50 year old 3^rd release, and a bottle of Macallan The Red Collection 60 year old for the top price of the sale. A Yamazaki 50 year old 1^st release, once the world record holder for the most expensive whisky sold at auction, fetched close to $500,000 in April 2023 and a 2^nd release came close to $200,000 later in the year, while last August, Scotch Whisky Auctions sold a bottle of Macallan The Red Collection 60 year old for close to $260,000. So while early sales have been modest this month, the order of bottles for our list of May’s 20 highest auction prices looks set to go down to the wire.

Whisky Auctioneer April 2024 Auction

Auction ended May 6^th

Japanese: Karuizawa 1965 Japonisme Edition $32,061. Released by La Maison du Whisky, this was the final release of their trilogy of Karuizawa whiskies from 1965.

Scotch: Bowmore 1969 50 year old, $24,518. The final release in Bowmore’s Vault Collection.

Irish: Redbreast Dream Cask 32 year old, $2,515. The debut release in the annual Dream Cask series of aged single pot still whiskeys, which began in 2018.

Unicorn Auctions – May Spirits Auction

Auction ended May 6^th

Bourbon: Weller’s 10 year old Antique Reserve Bourbon, $12,800. A fine result for this aged Stitzel-Weller bottling from the 1960s, bottled at 110 proof.

Rye: WhistlePig The Boss Hog 1^st Edition, $9,250. Check our What’s it Worth on WhistlePig The Boss Hog. The first edition continues to sell well, though its value is appears to have peaked.

Tennessee whiskey: Jack Daniel’s Coy Hill Single Barrel Special Release, $790. Released at $70 in 2021, these high-proof single barrel releases were selected from the top racks of the barrelhouses on Coy Hill, the highest elevation on the Jack Daniel property.

Scotch Whisky Auctions The 155^th Auction

Auction ended May 12^th

Scotch: Macallan 1950 Exceptional Cask #13 2018 Release, $37,566. This single cask was bottled in 2018 at just under 68 years old.

Bourbon: Double Eagle Very Rare 20 year old, $7,513. While we wait for Eagle Rare 25 year old to make an auction appearance, the Double Eagle Rare is turning up in multiple sales every month. If that’s beyond your price range, we recently did a deep dive on Eagle Rare 10 year old, which is much more affordable—if you can find it.

Irish: Midleton Very Rare Forêt de Tronçais, $3,506. The first in this new annual series from Midleton was released in October 2023 for $5,000 a bottle and rated 94 points, and contains aged single pot still and grain whiskeys finished in a T5 cask from the Tronçais forest.

Lot of the Week

The 150th Kentucky Derby & Oaks took place at Churchill Downs on the weekend of May 3^rd & 4^th, with Mystik Dan wining the Derby and Thorpedo Anna winning the Oaks. Ahead of the event, Woodford Reserve revealed this year’s commemorative Kentucky Derby bottling designed by Wylie Caudill. The following week, Unicorn Auctions had great success with its sale of 29 collectible editions of Woodford from past Derbies. This included a 25 year vertical of individual bottles (with some duplicates) from the 1^st release for Kentucky Derby 125 in 1999 ($2,575) to last year’s Kentucky Derby 149 ($85). A testament to the passion of those who build up a whisky collection of annual releases over the long term, the Derby bottles sold for a collective $18,440, with the highest sale, the 2001 bottling, making it as our lot of the week.

Lot: Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby 127
Sold at: Unicorn Auctions, May 13^th 2024
Hammer Price: $4,175

Upcoming Auctions

Bottles to bid on in the next few weeks:

June 3^rd, Sotheby’s Geneva: Sotheby’s is hosting its inaugural wine and spirits sale in Switzerland next month. Both decanters in the Royal Salute Art of Wonder Collection are on the block, including the Forces of Nature 53 year old designed by Kate MccGwire (rated 94 points) and the Time Chamber 53 year old designed by Conrad Shawcross (rated 93 points).

June 9^th, Sotheby’s, Singapore: While the next Sotheby’s New York sale concludes on June 13^th, the lots on offer have yet to be revealed. But Sotheby’s will also hold a Fine & Rare whisky sale in Singapore. Going under the hammer is the Bowmore Trilogy, the trio of Black, White and Gold Bowmore releases from the 1964 vintage aged for 42 (rated 97 points), 43 (rated 94 points), and 44 years (rated 96 points) respectively.