October Whisky & Spirits Auction Results
Click here to view this auctionBrowse through some selected highlights from our October Whisky & Spirits Auction.
Our October auction contained plenty of fantastic bottles and some real rarities that saw plenty of competitive bidding. Read on for a rundown of just some of the highlights from the October Whisky & Spirits auction results.
*Aftersales Update*
On conclusion of our aftersales process the Mortlach 1930 was usurped, with auction’s top spot taken by this gorgeous Macallan 72 Year Old presented in a Lalique Crystal Genesis Decanter inspired by the new Macallan distillery. One of only 600 decanters released and housed in a bespoke case, this sold for £39,500.
Macallan was a popular choice in the aftersales bidding with buyers for the Macallan 30 Year Old Fine Oak (£2,600), the complete Macallan Editions Collection (£2,400), a 2021 Macallan 30 Year Old Double Cask (£1,900) and a 25 Year Old Fine Oak (£1,150).
Besides Macallan, there were sales for the single cask Isle Of Jura 36 Year Old, one of 449 bottles, sold for £1,000. This 21 Year Old Springbank bottled in the 1990s fetched £700 while a 1992 27 Year Old Private Cask received a winning offer of £460. A trio of delectably sherried Glen Grants from Berry Bros & Rudd, distilled in 1967, 1970 and 1971 sold for between £450 and £675 a piece.
Speyside
This month’s auction topping lot was a rare single cask Mortlach, distilled in 1930 and bottled in December 1972 by Geo. Cowie & Sons Ltd. at a cask strength of 52%. There was a flurry of late bidding to secure the bottle and the winning bidder paid £6,400 to make this rarity part of their collection.
Not satisfied with just one 1930s vintage Mortlach, there was another in the shape of this Mortlach 1936 Connoisseurs Choice from Gordon & MacPhail that fetched £1,400. A slightly more youthful Glenfarclas 1953 Family Cask Release X sold for £4,600
There was a varied selection of 1960s and 70s vintages including a Caperdonich 1967 36 Year Old single cask bottled for the Vancouver Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club Members’ Legacy Fund (sold for £1,300), and a Caperdonich 1972 37 Year Old from Duncan Taylor (£625), and for fans of sherried malts a deliciously dark Benromach 1968 (£875) and a Strathavon (Glenlivet) 1969 from Berry Bros & Rudd (£500).
Gordon & MacPhail
As one of Scotland’s most eminent independent bottlers, there is frequently a great selection on offer at auction but this month there was the chance to buy some very special bottles from a bottler that has long been a champion of single malt whisky.
Topping the G&M bottles this month were two Brora malts from their Connoisseurs Choice range, both distilled in 1972 and bottled a few years apart in 1993 and 1995. These fetched £1,800 and £1,600.
Sticking with the theme of closed distilleries, there were also G&M bottlings of Port Ellen (£1000), Glen Mhor (£575), Glenburgie (£600), Kinclaith (£400), Glenugie (£340) and Ladyburn (£360).
For more on Gordon & MacPhail, you can take a look at this recent article from our Marketing and PR Manager, Emily.
Islay
Leading the way in the Islay section was a complete set of Laphroaig’s The Ian Hunter Story. The five releases celebrate the life of the final member of the Johnston family to own and manage the distillery and the lasting legacy his tenure had on the brand. Each release in the collection is aged between 30 to 34 years and has been aged in different cask types before bottling at cask strength. The complete collection sold for a winning bid of £5,000.
Sticking with Laphroaig, this 1968 26 Year Old from Hart Brothers fetched an auction record of £2,100.
There were a good number of indie bottlings of one of the island’s other big hitters available with bottles of Port Ellen from Gordon & MacPhail, Signatory, and Douglas Laing fetching between £550-£1000. Two bottles of Port Ellen 1978 25 Year Old, the 4th release from Diageo’s Special Releases, bottled in 2004, sold for £1,300-£1,400.
Highland
Brora was the star among Highland malts this month taking the top seven slots in the category with bottles from Diageo’s Special Releases series in addition to the G&M bottles mentioned earlier. The Special Releases ranged from 30 to 38 year old whiskies and sold for between £1,400-£1,900 a piece.
Also of note was a Glenfarclas 1966 Spirit Of Independence, number 26 of only 1200 bottles produced, which sold for £1,050. There were a range of the ever popular Rare Malts Selection available from the likes of Glenury Royal (£625), Glen Ord (£400), Teaninich (£360-£390) and Royal Lochnagar (£370).
World Whiskies
It’s common for us to mention whiskies from the likes of Japan and the USA in these roundups, and there were notable bottles in the October auction from the likes of Karuizawa and Yamazaki, but with an eclectic array of spirit from other corners of the world we thought a few of these deserved a mention. You can often pick up these bottles for relative bargains, so auction is a great place to get your hands on some exciting new whiskies from less established names and try something different.
For those looking to try some far flung spirits, a range of bottles were available from Tasmanian distillers Lark and Sullivan’s Cove, including this 2001 18 Year Old (£460), as well as New Zealand’s Cardrona with this 35cl bottle of Growing Wings (£40) bottled at a hefty 65.6%.
From Asia, a bottle of Indri Dru Indian Single Malt, released as part of the Diwali Collection 2023 at a cask strength of 58% sold for £230. A 30cl bottle of Taiwan’s Kavalan 2007 Distillery Reserve Peated Whisky fetched £100.
European representation included Swiss malts from Santis Appenzeller (£160), Seven Seals The Age Of Pisces (£95) and Age of Virgo (£85). The 2006 edition of Slyr’s 12 Year Old Classic Bavarian Single Malt from Germany sold for £55, while Sweden’s Mackmyra Gront fetched £110.
From closer to home, we had a wide selection from England’s The Lakes Distillery, with this bottle of The Princess Royal’s Private Reserve fetching £1,050 for charity, riasing money to help restore the Holy Trinity Church in Minchinhampton. There was also a range of the Whisky Maker’s Editions on offer selling for between £70-£300, with bottles from Filey Bay, White Peak and Cotswolds also finding new homes.
Roundup
Another auction record was set by this Havana Club Hunters & Frankau rum, bottled to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the UK based cigar importer. One of only 500 bottles, it sold for £1,200.
Chartreuse continues to prove a popular liqueur at auction with collectors and connoisseurs battling to snap up old bottles to taste a liqueur that just gets more interesting with bottle age. Among a great selection in this auction were a 1912-1913 Chartreuse Green (sold for £1,600) and a Chartreuse Liqueur Du 9eme Centenaire (£320), bottled in 1984 to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the Carthusian Order, creators of Chartreuse.
There was a football theme in some of the ceramic decanters this month with a complete set of Pointers Commemorative Decanters celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of England’s 1966 World Cup win featuring a decanter for each of the starting lineup as well as coach and trainer (sold for £300). There were also decanters commemorating Rangers record breaking 55th Scottish League title (£110) and Celtic’s famous Lisbon Lions 1967 European Cup triumph (£190).