Our 157th Auction is spilling over with fantastic bottles, so in case you’ve been distracted by another week of wall-to-wall sport, here’s a glimpse at just a few of the iconic bottlings in our live auction. And remember, you have until Sunday night (BST) to get your bids in!

Firstly, an absolute gem from arguably the most esteemed distillery in Dufftown – this Balvenie 1970 Single Cask #16191 drew more than a few double-takes from SWA staff when it landed on our doorstep. Drawn from a single Sherry cask, this was bottled for the French market in 2007. Quelle joie!

Sticking to heavy, brooding spirit from Speyside, we have this dark-as-stout Linkwood 1959 Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection. Aged in a first fill Sherry hogshead, this is a masterpiece of cask management and has been given exemplary reviews by everyone lucky enough to have tried it – think stewed prunes, malt loaf, pipe tobacco… a mere 176 bottles of this under-the-radar behemoth made it to market back in 2009.

If you really, really wanted to, you could get from Linkwood Distillery to Nikka’s head offices in Tokyo in under 24 hours, where you could ask them for a sample of this iconic Nikka Taketsuru 35 Year Old 75cl. After politely refusing, they might instead tell you a bit about this keystone Japanese bottling, which was constructed using some of the oldest stocks then available at the Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries.

Oddbins, the iconic wine & spirits merchant, sadly closed their doors for the final time at the end of last year. This Ardbeg 1974 Single Cask #2752 was bottled for the chain in 2005 (indeed, a number of sought-after bottlings were commissioned as Oddbins exclusives). Bottled from a bourbon barrel, this is nuclear, pin sharp Ardbeg for the true devotees of the Islay distillery.

As always, we have a wide range of drams with something to suit everyone, so now is the time to get moving picking out your own personal favourites for your watchlist.  Best of luck to everyone in the auction, and as always………..don’t lose your bottle.