Here is a look at some of the highlights from our November Whisky & Spirits Auction Results.
Macallan
Leading the way this month was this gorgeous Macallan 72 Year Old in Lalique, fetching a final hammer price of £50,000. At the time of its release in 2018, this was the oldest Macallan ever bottled with distillate dating back to the 1940s. The stunning Lalique decanter is housed in an equally beautiful bespoke presentation case designed by Burgess Studio and hand-crafted by cabinet makers NEJ Stevenson.
Macallan provided plenty more auction highlights with a Macallan 30 Year Old Sherry Oak fetching £4,600, a Macallan 1980 18 Year Old Gran Reserva selling for £3,100. This Macallan Coronation, containing two 35cl bottles released to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, sold for £2,700.
Islay
For fans of peated malts, there were some special Islay bottles on offer such as this Bowmore 1968 32 Year Old bottled for the 50th anniversary of the Stanley P. Morrison Company, owners of Bowmore since 1963. The liquid was specially selected by Brian Morrison, son of Stanley and this is one of only 1860 bottles. Also from Bowmore was this Bowmore Bicentenary 1779-1979 presented in a hand-blown decanter, that fetched £2,700.
A beautifully presented bottle of Ardbeg Provenance 1974 sold for £2,600 and a Bruichladdich 1964 ‘The Forty’ 40 Year Old fetched £1,650. From the 1980s, there were various standard distillery releases showing the desirability of older bottlings such as Laphroaig 10 Year Old (£675 each), Bruichladdich 10 Year Old (£190), Bowmore 12 Year Old (£260) and Lagavulin 12 Year Old (£1,300).
Rum
It isn’t just closed whisky distilleries that attract collectors as evidenced by the continuing interest in Caroni, which closed its doors in 2002. This Caroni 2000 17 Year Old Full Proof Heavy Trinidad Rum bottled exclusively for The Whisky Exchange at an eye-watering 70.4% sold for £2,000 and a bottle of Caroni 1994 23 Year Old Heavy Trinidad Rum fetched £700.
There were some interesting vintage rums available to bid on such as this Blue Mountain (sold for £310) and T. Linsley & Co. Demerara Rum (sold for £280) both bottled in the 1940s. Also containing distillate from the 1940s was a bottle of Valdespino Pre-1962 Legend of Cuban Rum, sold for £260.
Scotch Whisky
Speaking of closed distilleries, there were some great bottles of malt available such as this Brora 1977 21 Year Old (£1,200), Glenlochy 1969 26 Year Old (£1,000) and St Magdalene 1970 23 Year Old (£900) from Diageo’s Rare Malts Selection. From the Scotch Malt Whisky Society there was an SMWS 61.16, a 1982 Brora sold for £925, and an SMWS 65.2, an Imperial distilled in 1979 and bottled at 70.2% in 1991, which fetched £625.
From collectors’ (and drinkers’) favourite Springbank, a 1990s bottling of Springbank 21 Year Old sold for £1,400 and a more recent release, the first in a series leading up to the distillery’s 200th anniversary, this Springbank 27 Year Old Countdown Collection with matching 5cl miniature fetched £2,600.
There was a set of Glenmorangie Vintage Malts from the Bond House No.1 series dating between 1989 and 1993 and each finished in a variety of casks types, that sold for between £600-£650 each.
Roundup
We see quite a few exquisite Cognac decanters pass through the auction but not many personally signed by the Cellar Master, such as this Remy Martin Louis XIII signed by Baptiste L’Oiseau that fetched £2,300. The Cognac section also contained some interesting vintage distillate dating back as far as this Louis Salignac 1865 Grand Champagne Cognac, sold for £600 and an 1875 Normandin & Co. Extra, sold for £925.
If you like your spirits decadently packaged then look no further than this Faberge Arts Applied Craft Imperial Vodka presented in a blue Faberge Egg, complete with crystal and gold detail and topped with a gold eagle. This fetched £800.
See the full November Whisky & Spirits auction results here.
