We Tasted Sotheby's Auction of Very Olde St. Nick's Most Legendary Bottles

The newest Sotheby’s 2025 Whisky & Whiskey auction, Festive Spirits, is now open for bidding and will culminate in a live auction on December 12. Among the scores of lots are ungodly scarce bottles, many beyond unicorn status—what’s rarer than a unicorn? A Pegasus?—including a 1950 Very Very Old Fitzgerald 15 year old “Blackhawk”, a Macallan 78 year old, and 22 pints of 1953 Old W.L. Weller 5 year old.

Standing toe-to-toe with these Pegasus bottles, one collection that’s already attracting bids is a selection of 30-plus bottles from Preservation Distillery’s Marci Palatella—specifically, a slew of Very Olde St. Nick expressions from the early ’90s, along with collector editions such as The Legends of the Wild West and Outlaw Collector series.

“We’ve never seen this many [Preservation] bottles come to auction at once,” says Zev Glesta, assistant vice president and whiskey specialist for Sotheby’s. Through Sotheby’s and Glesta, we were able to taste seven of the Very Olde St. Nick expressions, some of which are currently up for auction—with tasting notes coming later in this piece. But first, a primer on Very Olde St. Nick and Palatella, the woman behind the now-iconic brand.

Who Is Marci Palatella?

To those within the industry, “Marci’s a whiskey standout,” Glesta says. “She was the only female non-distilling producer in the ’80s and ’90s in American whiskey.” Beginning her career as a distributor, selling close-out whiskeys that few others wanted, Palatella’s marketing skills led her to bring American whiskey to the Japanese market decades ago, when the U.S. market had largely waned on the category.

Palatella’s vision was simple: offer extra-aged, big, barrel proof whiskey, with high proofs and rich flavor profiles, something no one else was doing. (Most bourbons were between 86 and 100 proof then.) This strategy was ahead of its time and ultimately created the foundation of today’s American whiskey market.

The inspiration to go with bolder bourbon came, ironically, from scotch whisky. “I’d tried some older, cask strength Macallan and Glenmorangie expressions in Europe,” says Palatella, “and I liked the idea of those scotches having collections. I wanted to try that with bourbon.”

A friend in the industry immediately shot down the idea of launching barrel proof bourbon. “The response was that Old Grand-Dad cask strength is out there, and that’s not selling at all,” laughs Palatella. “I replied, ‘So let’s make it better.’”

How Very Olde St. Nick Bourbon Was Created

Palatella was frequently in Japan on business for other whiskey products, and she noticed that the Japanese were obsessed with Americana at the time. “Old Wrangler or Filson jeans were very in demand, as were flannel shirts, country music, the Western lifestyle as a whole,” recounts Palatella. The void that she instantly saw? Bourbon with creatively designed Americana labels.

After one Japanese importer and retailer asked Palatella what else she could offer, she grabbed a brown paper bag and started sketching labels. “At the time, it was summer, so the next big selling season would be Christmas, so I drew a version of Saint Nicholas, but I left off the hat and kept it black and white,” she says. “I was worried that if it didn’t sell during the holidays, I’d be stuck trying to move all this product later in the year.”

In her handwriting, she wrote the name: Very Olde St. Nick. Using a lighter, Palatella burned the edges of the label to give it an Americana vibe and faxed an image of it to her contacts in Japan, to see if they would order it.

If the order came, Palatella knew she’d need bourbon. So she called Julian Van Winkle III, at the suggestion of her husband, who used to deal with Pappy Van Winkle himself in the liquor business back in the 1950s. “Julian told me, ‘This is a terrible idea. Old cask strength whiskey? That’ll just taste like lumber,’” she says, adding she told him she was set on the idea.

Yet no one from Japan was biting. The holidays came and went, with crickets from her usual buyers. “Then around March, we got an order. It was huge, for hundreds of cases. They loved the drawing and wanted it,” Palatella says.

It took Van Winkle a year to find enough whiskey to fulfill the order. While much speculation exists about what’s in those bottles, “I don’t fully know where the whiskey came from,” admits Palatella. “I assumed it came from Stitzel-Weller, given Julian’s grandfather’s connections, but I never asked. I tasted it, it was great, and that was enough for me.”

What Do Early Very Olde St. Nick Bourbons Taste Like?

Glesta treated us to pours from duplicate bottles of seven bourbons, most of which are in the current Whisky and Whiskey auction. Here’s what we thought.

Very Olde St. Nick 12 year old, 114.3 proof

The nose on this early ’90s bottle is amazing. It’s reminiscent of dusty Wild Turkey funk, which isn’t surprising considering much of the Very Olde St. Nick bourbon was distilled in the ’70s or '80s. A fun minty vibe runs over the top of fruity notes and while it’s clearly a dusty, some primary fruit freshness still shines through. On the palate, it blows up with big pops of vanilla, caramel, and a punch of barrel spice, before fading relatively quickly. (Estimate: $3,000 to $4,000)

Very Olde St. Nick 15 year old, 114.8 proof

A touch older and a smidgen higher in ABV, this ’90s bottle offers a pile of fruity and floral notes. Candied fruit starts on the nose and continues on the palate. “There’s some rancio in there, too,” notes Glesta. The mouthfeel is thick and syrupy, and there’s plenty of grip. The whiskey ends with a bit of rye spice, then finishes with syrup from a maraschino cherry jar. It’s a standout pour. While a version of this bottle is not in the current auction, a Very Olde St. Nick 15 year old at 107 proof is available. (Estimate: $2,400 to $3,500)

Very Olde St. Nick 17 year old, 119.6 proof

This is one of Palatella’s first bottlings, evidenced by the oversized label that barely fits on the glass. There’s a nice vintage peanut aroma on the nose, with a little rye, presenting here as a minty, grassy note. Lightweight, the liquid erupts on the palate, akin to a chocolate-covered cherry bursting when you bite. It’s remarkably fresh, the fruit flavors are primary and luscious. It’s lick-the-glass good. This exact proof isn’t available in the auction, but two Very Olde St. Nick 17 year olds proofed at 116.2 are. (Estimate: $2,400 to $3,500)

Very Olde St. Nick 18 year old, 94 proof

The very herbaceous nose offers evergreen, pine tar, and pine sap. The palate on this non-cask strength offering is more mellow than the nose, but still full of evergreen. “I get an alpine cheese note, like a Gruyère where you can taste the grass within the cheese,” says Glesta. The finish here is rapid, zipping off your tongue. Two bottles of this are up for auction. (Estimate: $2,000 to $6,000, with higher proofs commanding higher bids)

Very Olde St. Nick 20 year old, 116.4 proof

With abundant rye on the nose, herbal and minty, the palate moves you into mint chocolate chip ice cream and honeycomb. It’s got a lot of punch, really walloping you right off the bat, with a ton of grip, and a lot of barrel spice. While narrower than the others in this tasting, it increasingly pulls you to one track, and that track is oak. But it’s not tannic nor unpleasant, and it ends up a solid pour. Two bottles are available at auction. (Estimate: $3,000 to $4,000)

Legends of The Wild West 15 year old, 114.3 proof

“How do you get people to buy more whiskey? Start a collectible series,” says Palatella, adding that all her series were rooted in Americana, hence the Legends of The Wild West. A variety of famous faces grace the various bottles, but this version is General Custer. This dark copper bourbon has a decadent and robust nose. Earthy and dusty, there are ample oak, leather, and dark chocolate flavors. Of the bourbons listed here, this is the most tannic and drying on the finish, but it never veers into harshness. (Estimate: $2,400 to $3,500)

Outlaw Collectors Series 20 year old, 101 proof

Another series Palatella created, the variant we tasted is Butch Cassidy. This may be the ideal holiday whiskey, given its abundance of savory notes. At first whiff, you detect chicken bouillon, onion, and garlic salt. The savoriness continues on the palate, with depth, breadth, and an old dusty richness that lingers through the finish. Belle Star and Billy The Kid versions, both at 101 proof, are available at auction. (Estimate: $1,500 to $2,000)