Here are some of my personal favourites from the latest miniature and memorabilia auction:
Port Ellen
Despite its fairly unassuming appearance, this Port Ellen from independent bottler James Macarthur is highly sought after among fans of the Islay distillery. This 12 year old malt was bottled shortly after the distillery’s closure in 1983 at a cask strength of 62.7%. Esteemed whisky reviewer Serge Valentin awarded it 96 points on WhiskyFun.com and in his typically colourful way referred to the finish being ‘as long as some early morning echoes in the Swiss Alps.’ Sold for a record breaking £410.
Macallan
A stalwart of auctions no matter what size, Macallan was, as ever, amongst the top lots in this month’s miniature and memorabilia sale. An array of outstanding bottles featured at the sharp end of the auction including vintages ranging between 1964 and 1972 selling for up to £240 each. We are seeing prices continue to rise for these collectable vintage bottles.
Macallan also provided us with this months top lot, the ever popular Private Eye fetching £575.
Japanese Miniatures
The popularity of Japanese whisky continues to grow and as does intrigue around old and rare miniatures. This particularly rare bottle of Suntory Sanshiro (sounds a bit like Sean Connery pronouncing a famous Italian football stadium) is seldom seen at auction and managed to fetch almost four times its previous highest price reaching £210. Also catching the eye was this beautifully labelled old Nikka featuring images of the Hokkaido and Sendai distilleries and containing blended malt and grain whiskies from Miyagikyo and Yoichi. It sold for £110.
Memorabilia
Our memorabilia auctions never fails to be entertaining and this month was no exception.
First up, this script from the 2016 remake of quite possibly the most famous film about whisky ever made, Sir Compton MacKenzie’s Whisky Galore. This complete script featuring handwritten notes will make a lovely addition to a whisky enthusiast’s collection and sold for £130.
Many distilleries have a cat (or dog) for keeping mice under control in the warehouse, entertaining the tourists and looking cute for social media posts, but not many have been immortalised in miniature form like Glenturret distillery’s Towser. Arguably this miniature Wade ceramic figurine (sold for £95) doesn’t really commemorate the impressive scale of Towser’s achievements with a whopping 28,889 mice to his name.
Speaking of the bizarre, this Wellington’s Whisky Flavoured Toothpaste sold for an impressive £70. We wondered if this may be the most expensive toothpaste on the market, but then discovered that a certain department store not too far from our offices in London can provide for all your dental needs if you are in the market for premium toothpaste in the £100+ range. It doesn’t taste like whisky though.
