Our August auction featured an eclectic mix of whiskies from around the globe as well as elaborately presented Cognacs and Vodkas and some extremely old bottles. Pour yourself a dram and read on for some of our highlights.
Scotch Whisky
Top lot for this month went to this Balvenie 1937 50 Year Old Pure Malt, a beautifully presented bottle, most of which were originally sold to the legendary whisky bar Milroy’s of Soho in London. The winning bid was an impressive £20,000. Plenty of other whiskies distilled in the mid-20th century featured in the auction such as this Highland Park 1959 18 Year Old, sold for £1,100, a Macallan 1940 37 Year Old bottled by Gordon & MacPhail for Italian importer Pinerolo, that fetched £3,700, and a Macallan 1958-1959 25 Year Old Anniversary Malt sold for £4,500.
Moving into the 1960s, this Clynelish 1965 28 Year Old Cask 666 from Signatory Vintage sold for £4,000, while a Dalmore 1966 40 Year Old fetched £6,000. This Bowmore 1968 37 Year Old sold for £3,700, Glenfarclas 1960 Family Cask, fetched £3,000, and a Springbank 1967 28 Year Old achieved a winning bid of £1,850.
The auction also saw an incredible range of Bowmore this month including a pair of Bowmore 1973 bottled for the 50th anniversary of Stanley P. Morrison Limited, sold for £2,400 each.
World Whiskies
From around the world there were some exceptional whiskies on offer such as this Karuizawa 1981 Sherry Cask #4380 that fetched £7,000 and a gorgeous Eagle Rare – Double Eagle Very Rare 20 Year Old featuring stunningly crafted eagles both on the crystal stopper and inside the bottle, sold for £6,200.
From Ireland there was a selection of vintages available from the Midleton Very Rare series with the highest price amongst them achieved by the Midleton Very Rare 1985, which sold for £1,400. A well-preserved bottle of John Jameson & Son 3 Star bottled in the 1960s fetched £525.
Cognac
The Cognac category this month featured some decadent decanters and was topped by a 35cl Remy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl with a winning bid of £10,200. This Frapin Cuvee 1888 Cognac in its distinctive gold thread embellished decanter sold for £2,000 while an Imperial Collection Premier Cru Grande Champagne 40 Year Old Cognac presented inside a Faberge Egg fetched £1,400.
A bottle of Napoleon Cognac, thought to be from the 1815 vintage sold for £850.
Rum
There were a few hotly contested bottles of rum this month that saw some late competitive bidding, one being this rarely seen Wray & Nephew 8 Year Old, bottled in the 1970s-80s, that eventually settled on a winning bid of £360. The other was an older bottle dating back to the 1940s-50s of Blue Mountain Jamaica Rum, that saw a late surge taking it to a hammer price of £220 for an interesting piece of liquid history.
The top rum lot for August went to this Appleton Estate 250th Anniversary 1749-1999 decanter, sold for £1,200.
Following on from last month’s auction, there was another exclusive rum donated by Ninefold in aid of Equal Measures UK. This time it was a Ninefold Scottish Aged Rum 3 Year Old Watson’s Reserve, the first of their distillery exclusive releases aged in virgin American Oak and ex-oloroso ex-Speyside whisky casks and one of only 30 bottles. The bottle raised £180 for an extremely worthwhile cause.
