Auction Update October 17th 2025

With record hammer prices paid for Glenlivet, Glen Grant, and Port Ellen, the Distillers One of One auction certainly created plenty of headlines. Beyond these notable successes, three lots are worth highlighting for their better-than-expected performance. The Ladyburn Marilyn Monroe by Sam Shaw 1966 58 year old sold for $240,121, the value boosted by the 20th-century cinematic icon on the label and the rarity of the whisky, which was distilled during the founding year of this short-lived single malt distillery. Ladyburn was built within William Grant & Sons’ Girvan grain distillery in 1966 and operated until 1975. There’s no real connection between the distillery and Marilyn Monroe—after all, she died in 1962 before Girvan or Ladyburn distilleries were around—but it certainly made for an eye-catching label.

Few whisky drinkers will know the name KANDOBLANC as it’s a design house, not a distillery, dedicated to the creation of one-of-a-kind pieces uniting art, culture, and rare whiskies. Founded in 2023 under artistic director Dhavall Gandhi, it created KANDOBLANC Dragon in Clouds 60 year old, a 1.5-liter handblown Murano glass decanter embellished with a gold dragon motif and presented in a bespoke Japanese paulownia wooden box. Even with the levels of craftsmanship behind every bottle in the auction, this creation really stood out for its sheer beauty. The 60 year old single malt from an undisclosed Speyside distillery sold for $113,390, the highest of any independent company at the auction, more than doubling the $43,806 hammer price achieved for the blended malt KANDOBLANC AGA in the Distillers One of One 2023 auction.

The auction’s third best-performing lot against its pre-sale estimate came from a closed distillery whisky from an independent bottler. Adelphi 29 year old Distilled at Imperial Distillery 1996 achieved a hammer price of $13,340, and was presented on a bespoke walnut pedestal that included a bolt from the distillery’s barley dresser (barley cleaner) physically connecting the bottle to Imperial’s history. Dalmunach Distillery opened in 2015 on the same site, and the building includes a number of design elements from Imperial Distillery, which was demolished in 2013, including recycled bricks and wood from the washbacks.

Scheduled just days before Distillers One of One, the new spirits team at Bonhams, Edinburgh had a shaky start to their Curated Spirits sale when the five highest-value bottles of Macallan, estimated at $266,000–$304,000, failed to attract a single bid. The Macallan 1950 Tales of the Macallan Volume 1, Macallan The Red Collection 78 year old, 77 year old, 74 year old, and 71 year old were all left on the shelf; however, bidding finally got going on a bottle of Macallan The Red Collection 50 year old, which sold for $24,194. This sum is a fall of 32.6% from the hammer price achieved for this expression by Whisky Auctioneer in August 2025: The equivalent drop in value of $870 a week between the two sale dates. Achieving a hammer price less than half the suggested retail price on release in 2020, this is by far the lowest price we’ve ever seen for this aged Macallan on the secondary market. A week later, Bonhams, Edinburgh failed to sell a refill sherry butt of Springbank 1995 30 year old with an estimated value of $266,000–$400,000, with enough whisky inside for 550–560 bottles.

Bonhams' highest hammer price of their sales was $26,883 for Hanyu Ichiro’s Malt Card Series Ace of Spades 1985 Cask No. 9308, which last made our 20-highest hammer prices of the month in November 2024.

Whisky Auctioneer September 2025 Auction

Auction ended October 6^th

• Scotch: Samaroli Laphroaig 1967 15 year old Matured in Sherry Wood, $53,225. This edition, bottled in 1982, has appeared at back-to-back auctions at Whisky Auctioneer, having sold for $62,304 in their August sale, achieving the third highest hammer price in September 2025.
• Japanese: Karuizawa Water of Life 1969 50 year old Cask No. 538, $20,886. This beat the $19,269 hammer price achieved by Whisky Auctioneer in their August sale.
• Irish: Midleton Very Rare Vintage 1988, $14,822. One of the rarest vintages created by master distiller Barry Crockett at Midleton Distillery in the 1980s.

Bonhams, Edinburgh – Curated Spirits

Auction ended October 7^th

• Japan: Hanyu Ichiro’s Malt Card Series Ace of Spades 1985 Cask No. 9308, $26,883. One of 347 bottled from this single sherry cask.
• Scotch: Macallan The Red Collection 50 year old, $24,194. The lowest auction price we’ve ever seen for this release.
• Irish: The Devil’s Keep, $8,065. Still trading well below its release price, this achieved an identical hammer price in pounds sterling to the last bottle of The Devil’s Keep sold by Bonhams, Edinburgh in March 2025 (only the exchange rates have changed).

Sotheby’s Edinburgh – The Distillers One of One 2025

Auction ended October 10th

• Speyside: Glenlivet SPIRA 1965 60 year old, $693,682. The 1.5-liter decanter is said to have been inspired by the dance of the vapors within the stills and the River Livet.
• Lowland: Ladyburn Marilyn Monroe by Sam Shaw 1966 58 year old, $240,121. The image label was taken by photographer Sam Shaw, capturing a spontaneous, unguarded image of the screen star.
• Highland: Old Pulteney Polaris 1978 47 year old, $66,700. The oldest release from the distillery is housed in a handblown blue glass bottle, and encased in Caithness slate.
• Islay: Port Ellen Prism 1978 46 year old, $400,201, encased in a sculpture representing the layers of the whisky’s flavors, with a three-dimensional image that shifts appearance as you move around it.
• Campbeltown: Young Spirits Ferg & Harris Wings Over Kintyre 31 year old Distilled at Springbank Distillery 1992, $13,340. The House of Ferg & Harris took 31 year old Springbank and finished it in a 1.2-liter cask that previously held organic cognac.
• Blend: The Distillers One of One 2025 Founders’ Reserve, $18,676. A blend of 18 scotch whiskies aged up to 55 years presented in a Glencairn crystal decanter with gold detailing showing Hopetoun House.
• Cask: Cask of Bruichladdich Biodynamic 2013, $53,360. This cask, underlining Bruichladdich’s commitment to sustainable and organic farming practices, raised even more money for good causes than the cask of Bere Barley 2013 sold in the 2023 auction.

Lot of the Week

Unicorn Auctions sold a complete set (192 bottles) of the Buffalo Trace Single Oak Project this month. Buffalo Trace already had an established track record of sharing its research into flavor development with bourbon lovers through the Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection, but the Single Oak Project was a root-and-branch analysis of the main variables determining the flavor characteristics of bourbon. Recognized as one of the greatest bourbon experiments in history, the project began with the selection of 96 white oak trees in the Ozark forests in Missouri. Each felled oak was separated into lumber from the top and bottom of the tree, which coopers at Independent Stave Company used to make single barrels, noting whether the oak was fine, medium, or coarse-grained. In the name of science, the team varied a further five factors, including the duration of stave seasoning, char level, mashbill, entry proof, and warehousing. None of the 192 barrels was identical. The bottles, the equivalent volume of 96 full-sized bottles, were released between 2011–2015. While single bottles can be found at auction—bottle No. 80 is the stand out – a complete collection of all 375 ml bottles sold without reserve is a real treat for collectors.

Lot: Buffalo Trace Single Oak Project Complete Set
Sold at: Unicorn Auctions, October 12^th
Hammer Price: $44,300 (approximately $230 per bottle)

Upcoming Auctions:

October 18^th, Unicorn Auctions: Blackhawks Centennial Charity Auction. Celebrating 100 years of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, this charity auction will benefit the team’s community programs, and includes a bottle of Very Very Old Fitzgerald 18 year old and a tasting experience of this expression with Julian Van Winkle and Chicago Blackhawks chairman Danny Wirtz at the United Center.

October 21^st, Whisky.Auction: October 2025 Whisky & Spirits. The Macallan in Lalique 50 year old, the first in the Six Pillars Collection, was released in 2005 and could make the Top 20 hammer prices of the month if it sells.

November 18^th, Bonham’s Skinner: Whisky & Spirits. The sale includes the six-bottle Springbank Millennium Collection of 25–50 year old whiskies from Campbeltown.

November 21^st, Christie’s, New York: Artistry in Oak: The World’s Oldest Single Malt Whisky. This single lot charity auction benefitting American Forests for the Gordon & MacPhail 85 year old from Glenlivet Distillery (est. $160,000–$300,000) includes Decanter No. 1, the framed cask end of cask 336, original artwork by architect Jeanne Gang, and a private Gordon & MacPhail tasting. If it sells, it will overtake Macallan The Reach 81 year old as the new record holder for the oldest whisky ever sold at auction.