Whisky Auction Update November 17th: High Stakes for Sotheby's Weekend of Whisky

Sotheby’s kicks off its Weekend of Whisky today, and it’s an event that could bring the first million-dollar bottle of whisky to auction in over two years (see below). Rare scotch and Japanese whiskies will be sold in London over two days, with Sotheby’s valuing these precious bottles at $4.1million – $5.8million. Today’s sale (November 17^th) is called “Kodawari | The Greatest Japanese Whisky Collection Part I,” and features a bottle of Karuizawa 1960 52 year old ‘Daikoku God’ (Est. $320,000–$430,000). Each bottling in this series released in 2013 featured a unique netsuke, and these Karuizawa have previously set the record for the most expensive standard sized bottle of whisky at auction. The sale includes 272 lots of rare Japanese whiskies from Hanyu, Yamazaki, Hakushu, Hibiki, and Yoichi, as well as over 160 lots of Karuizawa. Then on November 18^th, Sotheby’s will hold a sale entitled “The World’s Most Valuable Whisky + The Epicurean’s Atlas.” This 50-lot auction features rarities from Macallan, Springbank, Bowmore, Highland Park, and Gordon & MacPhail, plus bottles of Karuizawa, Yamazaki, Chichibu, and Michter’s, and of course, the potential for a million-dollar bottle of whisky.

Unicorn Auctions “No Reserves: Private Collection” Auction

Auction ended November 5^th

• American: Colonel E.H Taylor ‘Old Fashioned Sour Mash’ Bourbon, $12,600. One of these bottlings previously topped Unicorn Auctions’ No Reserves sale in August.
• Scotch: Brora 30 year old, $1,720. This was the sixth annual release of Brora, and was one of the bottlings in the Diageo Special Releases in 2007. In September, Diageo unveiled the first Roseisle single malt bottling as part of this year’s Diageo Special Releases.
• Canadian: Heaven’s Door Bootleg Series 26 year old Volume I, $990. Sold without its leather case, this bottle struggled to match the $2,000 winning bid at Unicorn Auctions last month, but it still managed to draw a higher hammer price than any Irish or Japanese whisky.

Whisky Auctioneer

Auction ended November 6^th

• Scotch: Glenturret 1972 50 year old, $34,691. This is a steep drop in value for this Glenturret bottling, as back in May, Whisky Auctioneer achieved $57,472 for a bottle, the fourth-highest hammer price in May.
• Japanese: Karuizawa Platinum Geisha 28 year old Cask No. 4365, $25,399. One of two bottlings of this Karuizawa release that sold in this auction, the other fetched $24,780.
• Norwegian: Bivrost Alfheim Eight Release, $2,168. Aurora Spirits has sold the first 20 bottlings of its arctic single malt releases at Whisky Auctioneer, in the run up to a core range release in 2025. This Nordic whisky was matured in new American oak, chinquapin, and Colombian oak casks.

Scotch Whisky Auctions – The 149^th Auction

Auction ended November 12^th

• Japanese: Karuizawa Ruby Geisha 38 year old Cask No. 7582, $25,670. This was one of 223 bottles originally sold by ballot from Elixir Distillers.
• Scotch: Macallan Fine & Rare 1979 40 year old, $19,558. Bottled in 2019, this was matured in a refill sherry puncheon.
• American: Double Eagle Very Rare 20 year old, $10,390. Even with 1,000 bottles produced, this continues to deliver strong results.

Lot of the Week

It has been over 4 years since Sotheby’s sold its only million-dollar bottle of whisky. It’s been over two years since any other auction house sold a bottle of whisky for more than a million dollars, so there will be a lot of interest in this sale. Just 12 of the 40 bottles of Macallan 1926 60 year old ever produced carries the Valerio Adami label. This particular bottle is the first to have been reconditioned by the Macallan team; the bottle has had the original capsule and cork replaced, and additional glue applied to secure the label. The distillery also analysed a sample of the liquid against an existing reference sample of Macallan 1926 60 year old for authenticity. Whether you are bidding a $1 million or not, everyone can watch the bidding live on the Sotheby’s website from 10 a.m. EST to see if this weekend’s sale delivers a record price.

Lot: Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60 year old
On sale at: Sotheby’s, London on November 18^th
Estimate: $915,000–$1,465,000

Upcoming Auctions

Bottles to bid on in the next few weeks:

November 18^th, Sotheby’s: Gordon & MacPhail Generations Glenlivet 80 year old. This sale includes two bottles of the world’s first 80 year old whisky, which received 95 points from our tasting panel.

November 26^th, Irish Whiskey Auctions: Bushmills The Rare Casks 28 year old A rare opportunity to bid on this 95 point U.S. exclusive cognac cask-finished Bushmills, the first release in The Rare Casks series from 2020.

December 5^th, Bonhams: Macallan in Lalique 50 year old. This bottling made the fourth-highest hammer price in October and these are becoming quite scarce at auction these days with only a handful of opportunities to acquire one each year.