December 2024 Whisky & Spirits Auction Results

So there it was, the last Whisky and Spirits Auction of 2024. The year has flown by but we had some stunning bottles to round out the year. Read on to see just a few of the highlights from our December 2024 Whisky & Spirits auction results.

*Aftersales Update*

A small aftersales this month with some sellers potentially holding on to see what 2025 may hold. There were a few bottles though that are being shipped off to new owners starting with this Macallan 1979 18 Year Old Gran Reserva that sold for £2,000. Other Scotch with accepted offers included this Springbank 1992 27 Year Old Private Cask (£400), a Smith’s Glenlivet 1964 12 Year Old (£370) and a Balvenie 17 Year Old DoubleWood (£180).

A lucky bourbon fan got their hands on this Eagle Rare 17 Year Old from the 2023 release of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection for £1,000 while this ever popular Hibiki 21 Year Old fetched £450 and a Redbreast Cuatro Barriles Edition, matured in four types of barrel as the name suggests, fetched £150.

Single Malt Scotch

Macallan continues to dominate the upper echelons of the auction and this month we had two very special bottles from Macallan’s Red Collection. This Macallan 78 Year Old, bottled in 2020, sold for a winning bid of £37,000 and took the top spot. The new owner will have the opportunity to taste some of the oldest malt ever bottled by the distillery. At only four years younger, this Macallan 74 Year Old sold for £35,000.

Another highlight from the Speyside favourite was this gorgeously labelled Macallan 1970 The Sea Cask, a single cask bottling from Moon Import that sold for £1,550.

Moving to the Highlands, this bottling from Diageo’s now discontinued Rare Malts Selection of Brora 1972 22 Year Old sold for £4,700 and a relatively rarely seen Dalmore 1966 30 Year Old, one of only 300 bottles released to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Shepherd Neame, Britain’s oldest brewer, fetched £2,600.

Independent Bottlers

There were stellar bottles from some esteemed indie bottlers. First up the legendary Silvano Samaroli whose bottlings of Longmorn Glenlivet 1974 (£4,800) and Teaninich 1959 22 Year Old (£3,100) received plenty of attention from bidders.

Closer to home, the Edinburgh based Scotch Malt Whisky Society always throws up interesting cask strength spirits but this month had some particularly special bottles. This Rosebank 1979 bottled at a fiery 58.5% in 1991 sold for £1,500, while from another closed (and recently reopened) distillery, this Brora 1981 19 Year Old fetched £1,550. There were a range of other interesting bottlings from SMWS covering all tastes.

From Robert Watson, an Aberdeen based blender and merchant, was this Balvenie 1965 Over Proof Aged Single Malt bottled in the 1970s that settled on a hammer price of £1,050.

Japanese Whisky

If you need a bottle to stand out on your bar, look no further than this rather eye catching gold bottling of Yamazaki Pure Malt 12 Year Old released to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Yamazaki Distillery. The winning bid was £1,750.

Also raising plenty of interest from Yamazaki were a couple of single cask bottlings. The top Japanese lot this month, fetching £4,000, was this Yamazaki 1980 The Cask of Yamazaki. Distilled in 1980 and matured in a single sherry cask before being bottled in 2002, this is one of only 336 bottles. A slightly later 1980s vintage in the shape of this Suntory Yamazaki 1986 The Owner’s Cask, bottled for the Japantique show in 2005, sold for £2,300.

There were plenty more enticing Japanese whiskies from the likes of Karuizawa, Chichibu and Hibiki with a standout being this beautifully decorated Hibiki 21 Year Old Erita ceramic decanter sold for £2,300.

Roundup

Old Cognacs are always intriguing and the auction had a variety of vintage bottles containing eaux de vie dating back as far as this 1848 De Royanne & Co Fine Champagne Cognac, estimated to have been bottled in the 1930s (£725). Other 1800s vintages included a Chastenet Freres 1865 Cognac Napoleon (£1,050), Bisquit Dubouche 1858 (£1,000) and Jules Gilson 1865 Very Old Liqueur Brandy (£650).

Vintage Campari continues to fetch good prices with 1950s and 1960s Campari Bitter selling for £200 each.

In our US Whiskey category, top billing went to a pair of rye whiskeys. Firstly, this bottle of Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 1985, an interesting expression rumoured to be sourced from the Medley Distillery and bottled at a slightly older 14 to 15 years old as opposed to the standard 13 year old. This sold for £3,000. The other, also containing rye most likely distilled at Medley, was a Hirsch Selection 13 Year Old Rye, sold for £2,000.

Finally, whisky is a great way to warm up after a round of golf, and if you have ever wanted the feeling of standing on the 18th green at the Old Course in St Andrews grasping the Claret Jug, well you could at least pretend with this The Champion 21 Year Old Wade decanter that found a new home for a hammer price of £270.

See the full December Whisky & Spirits Auction Results here.

See our past auction roundups here.