Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 418: Auchentoshan 14 Year Old 2002 Provenance

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries a teenage Toshan. Provenance is a series by Douglas Laing and I already tasted 3 Auchentoshan bottled under this label, an 11-year-old from 2000, a 12-year-old from 2001 and a 13-year-old from 2002. Douglas Laing released a 14-year-old in 2016 and that now sits in Mark’s glass.

https://youtu.be/v580KI-M64U

Sotheby’s Annual Wine & Spirits Auction Sales

Hit Record $132 Million

– 44% Increase on 2020 –

NEW YORK, 20 December 2021 – Sotheby’s Wine’s annual auction sales of wines and spirits reached record heights in 2021, led by a 44% increase in sales to a total of $132 million.

Looking back on the historic year, Jamie Ritchie, Worldwide Head of Sotheby’s Wine, said: “2021 will be remembered as a transformative year in Sotheby’s wine and spirits business, where we repeatedly broke records in all areas of our business and launched new initiatives and partnerships across all categories and geographies. Our highest ever sales total of $132 million included market leadership in Asia with $67 million, standout growth in both spirits and wine, and a slew of record prices for both wines and whiskies. We launched our sales in Continental Europe and our first sale of Tea in Hong Kong. But, perhaps the most significant development of this year was our inaugural sales and partnerships with the Hospices de Beaune and The Distillers’ Charity, where we worked together with the négociants in Burgundy and the distilleries in Scotland to raise important funds to benefit their local communities.”

Facts & Figures

• By region: Asia: $67 million; USA: $26 million; UK: $21 million; France: $18 million
• By category: Spirits $21 million
• Volume of sales increases: Sotheby’s staged 51 sales in the categories this year, 24% up on 2020
• 19 single owner sales, with an aggregate total of $75 million, 57% of the combined total
• Asia powers the market, with sales in the region accounting for 51% of global total, placing Sotheby’s in market leadership position in the region for fourth consecutive year
• Bidders from 56 countries (38% Americas, 37% Asia, 25% Europe)
• Buyers from 52 countries:
  • Buyers from Asia accounted for 57% of auction sales (58% for Wine, 52% for Spirits)
  • Buyers from the Americas accounted for 20% of auction sales (20% for Wine, 20% for Spirits)
  • Buyers from Europe accounted for 23% of auction sales (22% for Wine, 28% for Spirits)
• New buyers of wine and spirits made up 40% of the total number of buyers
• One third of bidders on wine and spirits under 40 years of age
• The number of first-time bidders of spirits saw a more than four-fold increase on 2020, with collectors from North America accounting for 45% of the total amount bid by collectors new to the category
• Over $20 million in auction sales for charity partnerships
• Lots sold: 14,150

Moving Sotheby’s centre of gravity to stage auctions and experiences beyond the traditional saleroom centres 

“These new partnerships enable us to work in a much closer way across the entire wine and spirits industries, which provides greater opportunity and benefit to everyone, from the producers and their communities to consumers all around the world. We look forward to expanding this series in 2022, starting with our innovative new partnership with the Napa Valley Vintners, as well as additional charitable organisations that will be announced early in the New Year.” – Jamie Ritchie

In 2021, Sotheby’s made a significant commitment to work together with charitable organisations, uniting collectors with special opportunities to acquire rare wines and whiskies, while benefiting the communities of each region:

• Sotheby’s partnered with the Hospices de Beaune for the first time. The 161st edition of the charity wine auction on 21 November brought $14.2 million. In addition, the legendary Charity Barrel realised a record $900,000, bringing the grand total raised for charity to $15.3 million
• Records also tumbled at the inaugural charity Scotch whisky auction – ‘The Distillers One of One’ – near Edinburgh on 3 December, with an auction totalling $4.1 million, and $2.7 million raised for charity
• Looking forward, as auction partners to Napa Valley Vintners, Sotheby’s will, for the first time, partner with a wine region to help connect wine consumers, collectors and connoisseurs to its wines. More details to follow.

Spirits

The year saw several partnerships with leading distilleries:

• Sotheby’s X The Worshipful Company of Distillers and the Scotch Whisky Industry, for the first Distillers One of One auction – records for Bowmore, Balvenie, Glenfiddich, Ladyburn, and Talisker, and more ($4.1 million total, more than double the low estimate; December, Edinburgh)
• Sotheby’s X The Macallan: A one-of-a-kind original bottle of 1967 whisky from The Macallan’s Anecdotes of Ages Collection with label artwork by Sir Peter Blake, sold for $437,500 (March, New York)
• Sotheby’s X Bowmore: The Black Bowmore Archive Cabinet – the complete Black Bowmore single malt whisky collection direct from the Bowmore distillery – sold for $563,000 (April, Hong Kong)
• Sotheby’s X Gordon & MacPhail: Auction record for a bottle of the world’s oldest single malt Scotch whisky – designed by architect and designer Sir David Adjaye OBE, Decanter #1 of Gordon & MacPhail Generations 80-Years-Old sold for $193,000 (October, Hong Kong)
• Sotheby’s X The Dalmore: Auction record for The Dalmore – a one-of-a-kind set of six vintage single malts direct from the distillery, sold for $1.1 million, establishing the most valuable whisky lot sold by Sotheby’s in Asia (October, Hong Kong)
• Sotheby’s X Diageo: Set #1 of the second release of Prima & Ultima, Diageo’s collectable series of rare, cask-strength single vintage malts containing eight whiskies from across Scotland, was offered exclusively through Sotheby’s directly from Diageo (September, Hong Kong)

A single-owner auction, Whisky & Whiskey | The Three Continents Collection, forming Part 1 of the largest collection of spirits by bottle count ever to be offered by Sotheby’s, totalled an above estimate $2.3 million and with 80% of the lots achieving prices above their high estimates (December, New York)

Looking ahead to 2022

“As wine regions and distilleries are increasingly looking for global reach and recognition, we will see a rise in on-site auctions and events enhanced with state-of-the-art digital experiences.” – Jamie Ritchie

Sotheby’s will hold its inaugural sale of Spirits in France from 12 – 21 January

More than 10 single owner sales are already scheduled 

Top Lots in 2021 

SPIRITS

Glenfiddich The 1950s Collection, sold for $1.4 million

The Dalmore Decades No. 6 Collection, sold for $1.1 million

Talisker Cask of Distinction 1978 + Artwork by Callum Innes, sold for $831,780

Black Bowmore Archive Cabinet Direct From Bowmore, sold for $563,000

Bowmore Onyx 51 Year Old 1970, sold for $532,340

Yamazaki 55 Year Old, sold for $525,000

Karuizawa 52 Year Old Strong Eagle Cask #5627 1960, sold for $495,200

The Macallan 1967 Anecdotes of Ages Collection “A New Era Of Advertising”, with Sir Peter Blake Print and Exclusive Experience, sold for $437,500

The Balvenie 56 Year Old 1964, sold for $232,900

Glenlivet Gordon & MacPhail Generations 80 Year Old 44.9 abv 1940 + Exclusive Experience, sold for $193,000

From our TWB family we extend to our customers our Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year.

It has been another challenging and unusual year but the support from our customers has been as phenomenal as ever – thank you. We remain open online throughout the Holidays for orders. And we will be toasting an extra large dram as we prepare for a big year ahead:- TWB | TheWhiskyBarrel.com has a very special birthday to celebrate!

Final New Whiskies of the Year!

Glenfarclas 29 Years

1991 vintage S21 cask #5676. Single sherry butt bottled June 2021 yielding 615 bottles.

Shop Glenfarclas 30yo »

Glenfarclas 30 Years

1990 vintage S21 cask #9256. Single sherry butt bottled June 2021 yielding 558 bottles.

Shop Glenfarclas 29yo »

Williamson 8 Year Old – 2013 | Càrn Mòr Strictly Limited

The festive season has seen the arrival of lots of new drinks here at The Whisky Exchange. If you’re looking for an exciting new whisky, look no further than the 2021 release of Fettercairn 16 Year Old and Bunnahabhain’s 12 Year Old Cask Strength, bourbon and rye American whiskeys from Rabbit Hole, or a fruity single malt from Tamdhu, designed as an accompaniment to cigars.

SHOP ALL NEW PRODUCTS

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 417: Auchentoshan 17 Year Old Bordeaux Wine Finish

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tastes an older release of Auchentoshan. A finish on wine casks is always a bit tricky, but Auchentoshan usually gets it right. And while Mark has tasted many of these, this 17 years old bottled in 2002 was one of the first that was finished on these Saint Julien Bordeaux wine casks and one he had not yet tried before!

https://youtu.be/pTBueX0lCyE

How can you invest in whiskey?

To invest in whiskey is one of the latest options and attention gaining areas in the investment industry. There are two principles ways to invest in whiskey and today we are going to discuss them. The first one is to invest directly in bottles and the second option is to invest in whiskey. It can either be an old or new bottle and in that, the brand and distillery are extremely important. In the casks of whiskey, the distillery from which the whiskey comes is less important. A good return of around 10-15% can be made from whiskey casks from any distillery.

Let’s have a detailed view at both the options and get a better view on how to invest in whiskey –

• Investing in bottles

Investing in the bottles requires a huge amount of capital in order to even make a minimum investment. In order to invest in bottles you need to buy them from auctions and releases by using your expertise and skills. Inspite of all the skills and expertise a high amount of return is not guaranteed when investing in bottles while making an investment in whiskey.

• Investing in Whiskey Casks

Whiskey is considered a depreciating asset and thus, no amount of capital gains is payable on the sale. Casks give a different perspective to whiskey investment. These are a simple asset, held in bond and no duty is levied whilst it stays in bond. When it comes to investing in whiskey, the best way is to invest in a diverse portfolio. Casks can be bought at different stages during their process. They can be bought freshly filled to well-aged.

The casks become more expensive as they gain maturity and they are of less price on their early stage. The cask at a zero age is called a new fill cask and the liquid is called a new make spirit. It takes 3 years and a day for a new spirit to legally become whiskey. Casks can be bought at any age the buyer thinks it would be beneficial.

More of such guidance is available when you join New Hibernian Whiskey Advisory and decide to invest in whiskey. For more information, you can visit www.new-hibernian.com

About New Hiberian Whiskey

Our Model of Whiskey Cask Purchase

The Irish Whiskey cask purchase model is a way for private investors and institutions to enter into a market that was historically limited to the select few; Either those with direct links to distilleries or Ultra High Net Worth individuals with the financial prowess to buy their way into the market of their choice.

Our model allows investors to enter into the advanced purchase of casks of raw Whiskey from one of renowned partner distilleries at prices way below wholesale. This ensures future profits for the cask owners whilst also creating cash flow for the distillery. For full details on our pricing structure contact info@new-hibernian.com

BOXING DAY SIZZLING SALE

Merry Christmas! We hope you have a wonderful holiday. Not one to let the fun stop, we’re keeping the festivities going with our sizzling Boxing Day Sale.

Available online now until 10pm, Friday 31 December – now is the time to go BOLD for the New Year, explore new flavours and taste experiences that you may never have tried before. Enjoy a spectacular 20% saving on our selected bottles PLUS we’ve created our Seasonal Mystery Malt Parcels that are sure to surprise and delight the senses.

SPECTACULAR 20% SAVING on our seasonal selected bottlings:
Use Coupon Code: SIZZLINGSALE20
Excludes Mystery Malt Parcels

Simply visit our Boxing Day sale selection online, add your bottles to your basket and apply our coupon code above to enjoy your discount.

GO BOLD

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

Firstly I would like to wish all our customers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Below you will find our first UK Collection schedule of 2022. Please note the week we collect is now a week later with the exception of the North West of England. Please pay attention to the deadline dates as we are now on a tight schedule to get the North West routes planned.

To register your interest in a collection please complete the form which can be found here.

Please note home collections are available to those customers sending 10+ bottles or bottles to the value of £1000 and above in towns and cities where we do not offer a collection point.

Please get in touch if your area is not listed below but you would like a home collection. We will do our best to accommodate all requests.

Collections are limited and by appointment only. If you would like to attend please complete the form which can be found here. Please note dead lines apply for collection requests. It would be appreciated if bottles could be packed for uplift. In addition the attached submission form and label should be completed.

A winner in our auction? We are now offering a delivery (to collection point) service to customers who are dropping bottles off for a future auction. This service is charged at £12 (inc VAT), optional loss and breakage cover is available.

Submission Form & Label

Westland “#6062” K&L Exclusive Single ex-Jack Daniels Maple Wood Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky (750ml) $109.99 View

This exceptional and usual barrel comes one of the country’s premier producers of America Single Malt. Few would argue that Westland isn’t one of the very best and this exciting cask is one of the oldest we’ve ever sold from this venerated Washington producer. They started with malted barley from Baird’s in the highlands of Scotland. This batch was peated to a hefty 55ppm before being shipped to Washington to be fermented with their proprietary Belgian saison yeast and distilled on their gorgeous copper pots. Filled into a new Coopers Select on June, 19th 2014, it aged a full 4 years before being transferred to a maple wood barrel that had previously held the famous Tennessee whisky from Lynchburg. After nearly 2.5 years more, the barrel was dumped and bottled exclusively for K&L without chillfilteration or coloring of any kind at a seamless 108.88 proof. The rich complexity of this cask cannot be overstated. The dense peat mingle perfectly with the multiple wood types offering both classic and new world flavors that will entice even the most smoke averse whisky drinker. Only 120 bottles made it out of the notoriously leaky maple wood barrel and we’re certain they won’t last long. The wonderful single barrel program is the perfect complement to the newly release and perfectly executed Flagship product that so much value and consistency as to literally define the category. All should continue to take note of what this fabulous distillery is doing in the heart of Seattle.

Bardstown Bourbon Company “Discovery Series #6” Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) $135.00 View

The exceptional Discovery series from Bardstown Bourbon Company have consistently been some of the highest quality releases each year. This fabulous new gleaming distillery isn’t shying away from the details when it releases these sourced products and they spend an inordinate amount of time and energy making sure these small batches deliver an incredible drinking from the first nosing to the final sip. This batch is a meticulous marriage of whiskies from three states. The primary component, 68% of the blend, is an 11 year old Kentucky Bourbon with a classic 75% corn, 13% rye mashbill. This is presumed to be distilled at Barton Distillery just miles from the Bardstown Distillery, but the distillery has never confirmed that fact. The rest of the blend is made up of equal parts of Tennessee 17 year old at 8% rye and an Indiana 7 Year old at 21% rye. These are pretty obvious considering no other distillery in either state sells to others parties, so we assume Cascade Hollow and MGPi for these components respectively. Despite the very distinctive profiles of each distillery, neither dominates in the blend and the resulting bourbon is a perfect balance of the rich dusty old Tennessee Bourbon, deep fruit forward Kentucky and the zesty youthful Indiana. Ultimatley, very few products in this price point or any other offer such a high quality drinking experience and with no allocation, you’re free for once to load up the bunker.

Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA