Auction Update September 19th 2025

There’s no doubt that we’re entering the busiest part of the auction year. September’s provisional 20-highest hammer prices of the month rocketed past the value of last month’s total before the end of the first two weeks. The calendar has been packed with major auctions, as well as charity endeavors, including Bourbon Bonanza, Art of Bourbon, and the Legacy de Forge auction for Bourbon Heritage Month.

Spink, China ran an exclusive Springbank auction featuring over 100 lots, with a bottle of Springbank Millennium 50 year old fetching a hammer price of $10,272. Whiskyauction.com concluded their long-running ninth auction of the year on September 13th, which had been open for bidding for 56 days since July. Their highest bid was $26,020 for a bottle of Karuizawa Noh Whisky 1971 41 year old Cask No. 1842, one of a number of Karuizawa bottles vying to make the 20-highest hammer prices for September. Bowmore had a clean sweep at Scotch Whisky Auction’s 171^st auction on September 14^th, claiming the top three hammer prices, including Bowmore 1966 50 year old for $33,876, Black Bowmore 1964 42 year old for $15,583, and White Bowmore 1964 43 year old for $12,873. Whisky Auctioneer sold some lovely independent bottlings of Laphroaig distilled the same year as The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, including a bottle of Samaroli Laphroaig 1967 15 year old Matured in Sherry Wood for $62,304 and a bottle of Cadenhead’s Laphroaig 1967 13 year old for $27,089.

In the running for the highest hammer price of the month is Macallan The Reach 81 year old, which sold at Sotheby’s, Hong Kong for $83,457. With Macallan prices falling at auction, obtaining a bottle is now coming within reach for a wider range of collectors. This is the first bottle to sell on the secondary market since Whisky Auctioneer sold a bottle in January for $106,475, representing a decrease in value of 21.6% in 8 months, or more than $23,000. For owners of Macallan The Reach 81 year old, that means more than $650 a week is slipping through their fingers between these two sales. It now trades significantly below its release price of $125,000. Only two years ago, Macallan The Reach 81 year old set the third-highest hammer price of 2023, with a bid of $484,084 at Sotheby’s, Hong Kong; over $400,000 higher than the hammer price the same auction house achieved in the city this month. With Bonhams holding two auctions before the end of the month, and Sotheby’s New York next week, the highest auction price for September could still be taken by another bottle. One contender is Very Very Old Fitzgerald 1950 18 year old Blackhawk at Sotheby’s, New York. Unicorn Auctions previously sold this expression for $80,100 in May 2024, setting the 15^th highest hammer price of 2024. Bidding starts at $50,000, so with a provisional 20-highest list crammed full of single malts, can this rarity from Stitzel-Weller Distillery steal the top position during Bourbon Heritage Month?

Unicorn Auctions – Bourbon Bonanza 2025 Charity Auction

Auction ended September 6th

• Barrel Selection: Private Willett Distillery Barrel Selection Experience, $87,800. After a private tour of the distillery for up to six people, the winning bidder will select a barrel of bourbon or rye up to 13 years old under the guidance of master distiller Drew Kulsveen.
• Rye: LeNell’s Red Hook Rye 24 year old Barrel No. 4, $32,700. While not a world record, this is the highest hammer price achieved for LeNell’s Barrel No. 4 so far this year.
• Bourbon: Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Bourbon 11 year old Cask No. 3338 Private Barrel Selection for Gemor, $5,100. One of 121 bottles created, this was an export bottling for Gemor bar in Toyohashi City in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, known for its extensive bourbon collection.

Good Bottle Auctions – September 2025 Whiskey & Spirits Auction

Auction ended September 7th

• Bourbon: Michter’s 20 year old 2022 Release, $3,000. This has topped $4,000 in the past, but this limited expression still achieved a solid price.
• Rye: Booker’s Rye “Big Time Batch” 13 year old, $1,600. A 92-point Booker’s from 2016, bottled at a mighty 68.1%.
• Scotch: Balvenie A Day of Dark Barley 26 year old, $500. This experimental 93-point Speyside whisky made with dark roasted malt was released in May 2019 with a suggested retail price of $800.

Whisky Auctioneer August 2025 Auction

Auction ended September 8^th

• Scotch: Samaroli Laphroaig 1967 15 year old Matured in Sherry Wood, $62,304. This legendary Samaroli pick achieved the highest hammer price for Laphroaig so far this year.
• Japanese: Karuizawa 1965 50 year old Monyou Edition Cask No. 2372, $25,734. One of 309 bottles released by La Maison Du Whisky in Paris as part of their 60^th anniversary celebrations.
• Bourbon: Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Bourbon 17 year old Cask No. 29A Private Barrel Selection for “Shoppers Vineyard”, $8,398. This private barrel pick was distilled in 1993 and bottled in 2010.

Lot of the Week

Ardbeg has been celebrating 25 years of the Ardbeg Committee this year, a collective used to exclusive bottlings in their tireless work ensuring that the doors of Ardbeg Distillery never close again. The official Ardbeg Fèis Ìle 2025 release was Ardbeg Smokiverse—a tropical fruity whisky made using high-gravity mashing. But Ardbeg had another surprise up its sleeve. Ardbeg Homecoming was released as an Islay exclusive, available only to those visitors who made the pilgrimage to the distillery. It’s a rum-finished cask strength Ardbeg, likely to appeal to peat lovers who relished the rum finishing of Ardbeg Drum from Fèis Ìle 2019. Ardbeg Drum was released at 46%, but there was also an Ardbeg Drum Committee Release, which weighed in at 52%. To date, only a few festival goers have handed over their Homecoming bottle to auctioneers, so Ardbeg collectors may need to search the auction houses to find a bottle to bid on. Grand Whisky Auctions set an early record price of $594 for a bottle of Ardbeg Homecoming immediately after Fèis Ìle, signed by then Ardbeg visitor center manager and Ardbeg Committee chair Jackie Thomson at her final Ardbeg Fèis Ìle before she left the distillery. The new chairs of the Ardbeg Committee are Bryony McNiven, visitor center planner, and Gillian Macdonald, Ardbeg distillery’s master blender.

Lot: Ardbeg Homecoming, 56.1%
Sold at: Scotch Whisky Auctions, September 14^th 20205
Hammer Price: $298

Upcoming Auctions:

September 24^th, Sotheby’s, New York: Whisky & Whiskey | Aged Single Malt and Legendary Bourbon

September 28^th, Whisky Hammer: September 2025

September 30^th, Bonham’s Skinner: Whiskey Archives – The Lone Star Collection