August 2025 Whisky & Spirits Auction Results

Our August auction saw plenty of spectacular bottles, some surprises and a few auction records. Read on for just some of the highlights.

Macallan

It was a mixed bag at the upper end of the auction with representation from rum and Irish whiskey amongst the Scotch malts, but the top spot was taken by a bottle of Macallan 1974 30 Year Old from the Fine & Rare Collection. Matured in a single Sherry puncheon and bottled in 2004, it sold for £8,800.

Other Macallan entries finishing in the top ten lots included collectors favourites like this Macallan 30 Year Old Sherry Oak (£3,600) and a Macallan 1979 18 Year Old Gran Reserva that fetched £3,200. A bottle of Macallan 1993 26 Year Old bottled for The Scottish Gantry sold for £1,850 and for fans of older vintages there were a range of sixties and seventies Macallan on offer.

Scotch Whisky

Besides Macallan, there was no shortage of other stunning bottles to bid on and following up the Macallan Fine & Rare was this Bowmore 1957 38 Year Old, presented in a gorgeous engraved wooden case, that sold for £6,400. This Springbank 12 Year Old 100 Proof saw a late surge to £1,900 and a Linkwood 1939 43 Year Old bottled by Gordon & MacPhail sold for £1,250.

From the Isle of Mull, this dark, Oloroso finished Tobermory 1972 32 Year Old sold for £800, as did a Speyside Balvenie Tun 1401 Batch 7. From Islay, a 1980s litre bottle of pre-royal warrant Laphroaig 10 Year Old fetched £775 while a Lagavulin 1980 Distiller’s Edition sold for £490.

Two bottles of the 2025 Springbank Society release of Longrow 26 Year Old matured in Oloroso butts and finished in Pedro Ximenez hogsheads and bottled at 56.1% sold for £650-£675 each.

SMWS

There is always something interesting to be found in exploring indie bottlers and this month’s auction was no exception with a range of intriguing malts from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Among these were a selection of early releases pre-dating the frequently amusing and often mouth-watering naming of each malt. These included some deliciously dark and sherried Glenlossie 1977 (£1,350), Linkwood 1977 (£1,100) and Glenfarclas 1976 (£975) as well as a Macallan 1980 (£380), Glenlivet 1971 (£450) and a first release 89.1 Tomintoul 1976 (£390).

Johnnie Walker

A perennial collectors favourite, there were plenty of Johnnie Walker lots to whet the appetite in the auction. Full cases of 1970s Black Label (£490) and Red Label (£310) saw competitive bidding, and celebratory bottlings highlighting the longevity of the brand including a beautiful Johnnie Walker 150th Anniversary set with decanter sold for £1,100, and a John Walker & Sons 28 Year Old Bicentenary Blend, a blend of spirit from ghost distilleries, fetched £460.

A trio of the Johnnie Walker Game of Thrones releases also fetched an impressive £250.

Liqueurs

There was an abundance of vintage liqueurs and spirits in this auction with Chartreuse inevitably attracting the highest prices but plenty of interesting bottles to catch the eye of the connoisseur. Leading the category was a Chartreuse Green dating from 1941-1951 that sold for £2,200, while other Chartreuse such as this Chartreuse Green bottled in Tarragona between 1973-1985 fetched £925 and a Yellow Chartreuse dating from 1975-1982 achieved £450.

This colourful 1960s bottle of Amaro Bairo saw plenty of bidding action and ended on a hammer price of £460. Other Italian bottles such as this Bonomelli Bitter Milano (£170), Cobianchi Amaro Montenegro (£160) and a funky 1950s Turin 61 Giuseppe (£170) performed well and vintage Campari continued to attract interest.

A 1950s Benedictine DOM, rarely seen in such good condition saw some competitive late bidding and ended on £430.

Roundup

There were some nice surprises for sellers as some bottles reached new heights and others performed incredibly well. This amazingly well-preserved pair of Royal Navy Rum Flagons dating from the 1950s saw bidding end on an impressive £5,600.

There were new auction records for this Glenlivet 12 Year Old bottled in the 1950s to early ’60s, reaching £480 and also this Chartreuse Yellow ‘El Gruno’ with a hammer price of £1,500.

In the Irish Whiskey category this inaugural release of The Devil’s Keep 1991 fetched a hammer price of £6,000, placing it in the top three lots of the auction. Other Irish lots of note included another elaborately packaged bottle – the Taoscan Collector’s Edition – that sold for £600, and this gorgeous Redbreast 12 Year Old bottled in the 1970s (£260).

See the full August Whisky & Spirits Auction results here.

See our past auction roundups here.