RARE DALMORE MAKES EXCEPTIONAL PRICE AT BONHAMS WHISKY SALE IN EDINBURGH
– £900 A DRAM –  

Dalmore 50 year-old 1926. Sold for £33,750

A rare bottle of Dalmore 50 year-old 1926 tripled its pre-sale estimate to sell for £33,750 at Bonhams Whisky Sale in Edinburgh today, Wednesday 6 June, making a dram worth more than £900.  The bottle had been estimated at £10,000-14,000.

Bonhams Whisky specialist Martin Green said, “The Dalmore 50 year-old 1926 is an exceptional whisky, and I am not surprised that the bidding was so intense and the price achieved so high. It was a very strong sale overall with bidders taking full advantage of the opportunity to add some very special bottles to their collections.”

Other highlights included:

• A bottle of the Macallan 1951 that sold for £17,500.  One of only 632 bottles, it had been estimated at £10,000-12,000
• A bottle of Glenfiddich-1952. Estimated at £10,000-12,000, it sold for £16,250.
• A bottle of the Macallan 1957. Bottled in 1982 in honour of the 25th Anniversary of Rinaldi Brothers Inc., it made £8,750 against an estimate of £3,000-4,000.
• Two bottles of the Macallan-Glenlivet 35 year-old 1938. Sold as a pair for £6,875 having been estimated at £3,400-4,000.

In total, the sale made £433,150 with 92% of lots being sold.

NOTES

Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world’s largest and most renowned auctioneers, offering fine art and antiques, motor cars and jewellery. The main salerooms are in London, New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, with auctions also held in Knightsbridge, Edinburgh, Paris, San Francisco and Sydney. With a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 22 countries, Bonhams offers advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas. For a full list of forthcoming auctions, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, please visit bonhams.com

FEIS ILE AUCTION – NOW LIVE!

What an amazing Feis Ile this year – wonderful whiskies combined with sensational, sunny weather!

The Whisky Auctioneer team was lucky enough to join the festival, and although we can’t bring back the great weather, we were on standby for anyone looking to get their bottles transported safely off the island.

So if you weren’t able to make the trip over then do not worry – you’ll find all the whisky that the island had to offer in the current auction…

Check it out here!

Hunter Laing Kinship Collection 6 x 70cl / Feis Ile 2018

To celebrate the coming completion of their Ardnahoe distillery on Islay, Hunter Laing has released a second selection of 6 bottlings, following on from the original Kinship collection in 2017.

Feis Ile 2018 Official Releases

Each distillery had at least one release for those lucky enough to have made the epic journey to the island. Kilchoman introduced their most aged whisky to date, Laphraoig finished in sherry casks and Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte offered hugely experimental releases.

Bowmore Feis Ile 2018

Bowmore released two different expressions: There was a single cask release that many dedicated Bowmore fans sat patiently in line for, along with the 15 year old matured exclusively in Oloroso casks.

Feis Ile 2018 Independents

Whilst the lion’s share of the attention went to the official releases from each distillery, some fantastic indy bottlings were also up for grabs throughout the week. 

Campbeltown Malts Festival 2018

Lastly, we musn’t forget the fact that on the run up to the Feis Ile, Campbeltown had their own wee annual celebration where some mouth-watering releases were revealed. We have a selection of these available in our current auction.

AUCTION NOW LIVE!

Time to browse the auction?

This month see’s us with a barrage of high quality, aged whiskies as well as potential drinking bargains! We actually have a slightly smaller auction this month, but the quality of bottles is outstanding. Some of the whiskies are featured below but there are many more online. Don’t forget the 2018 Feis Ile bottles too!

Starting up in Sutherland, one of the stand-out whiskies of the month is the fabulous Brora 40 Year Old. Captured at an incredible 59.1% vol and housed in a hand-crafted wooden case by the Queen’s cabinet makers N.E.J. Stevenson Ltd it’s one we’d love to try.

BRORA 40 YEARS OLD 1972

The first ever 40-year-old bottling from the long-closed distillery of Brora in Sutherland, Scotland. Taken at natural cask strength from a single cask distilled a generation ago, the fine pale gold malt in this exquisite decanter is a proud and rare survivor of another age. The decanter bears the golden emblem of the Scottish Wildcat, a now endangered species, which featured on the family crest of the distiller’s founder, the Duke of Sutherland.

The rare expression has been drawn from what Diageo considers to be “the most brilliant of its highly-peated bottlings”, the 1972 reserve, and has a natural cask strength of 59.1%.

LAPHROAIG 40 YEARS OLD – NATURAL CASK STRENGTH

An incredibly sought after bottle of Laphroaig. This 40-year-old whisky was the official release which followed the 1960 40 year old which was exclusive to Oddbins.

In 1960, locally grown barley was malted by hand in the distillery’s own maltings. Using the soft peaty water from the Kilbride Dam and peat from the Glenmachrie Moss in March of that year, this unique whisky was produced and put away in the warehouse beside the sea for its long sleep.

This rare and unique whisky was produced and distilled under the care and attention of the legendary Bessie Williamson. Some people say she was the first genuine lady whisky distiller.

MACALLAN 1950 GORDON & MACPHAIL (75cl)

This is an incredibly rare Single Malt Macallan which was distilled way back in 1950 and bottled in the early 1980’s by Gordon & MacPhail of Elgin.

Matured in sherry wood for over 30 years, this is a fantastic appreciating whisky which would grace the collection of any Macallan or whisky enthusiast. The hand-written style label adds a real touch of class to this collectable malt. Simply stunning!

The auction runs until Sunday the 17^th June.

www.just-whisky.co.uk

Andrew Usher & Co. Edinburgh
Green Stripe early 20th century

From time to time we come across truly magical whiskies from eras that are long lost and whether they’re single malts or blends, they’re all worth getting excited about.
This bottle was purchased in 1914 by the vendors Grandfather (A Worcestershire farmer 1876 – 1960) at the beginning of the first World War with the intention of opening it to celebrate the end, which came in 1918. He never ended up drinking the whisky but instead passed it down to his son (Also a Worcestershire farmer). Again he never found the time to drink the whisky and consequently passed it down the his daughter, the current owner of the bottle. It has been sat in a cupboard in her home in Worcestershire until recently when Wayne I consigned the bottle for auction.

”I remember it sitting in the Cupboard waiting for a Suitable Event that would Warrant opening it!! I think that now, that decision maybe left to Another to choose the Occasion?”

Relics like this don’t turn up in auction often, especially with such precise provenance. Bottles like this deserve spot light in a museum or opened and shared with good friends. Either way we know this bottle will go to a good home with one of our bidders.

See more details »

Ardbeg 1963

This is definitely one to look out for and one we’ve never seen in our auction before. A 1963 Ardbeg bottled in 1994 by Gordon & MacPhail for their Connoisseurs Choice Map label. We’re seeing less & less off these older 1960s distillate Ardbeg’s in auction and this is mainly down to their reputation of being absolutely spectacular whiskies.

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Ardbeg 1966

Joining the 1963 Connoisseurs Choice Ardbeg is this 1966 32 year old. A single cask from Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection with the Chairman’s Stock Gold Seal; This gives you and idea they were impressed with his whisky when they bottled it – This will be equally as good and you could argue harder to find with only 120 bottles produced.

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Glen Grant 10-year-old
Dark Sherry 1960s

By far my favourite bottle in this months auction. We collected this from the vendors house in Chiddingfold. We’ve never come across this one under the Peatling & Cawdron label before and we’re excited to see what interest it creates.

Peatling & Cawdron is one of many business established by Thomas Peatling, a wine and spirits agent dating back to 1826. In 1988 Peatling & Cawdron was incorporated with several other small businesses before reverting to its original name of Thos. Peatling.

See more details »

Old Blended Scotch Whisky

We have even more old blends avalible in our May auction. You will find numerous examples from White Horse, Black & White, Johnnie Walker, Haig & Logans. Along side these brands you will also find a very interesting 1930s Gilbey’s Spey-Royal. This will contain a high proportion of malt distilled at the Glen Spey distillery. Like many of the blends bottled before the war, the malt contributed was much more concentrated and often peaty. These make for fascinating drinking sessions and often the only way to experience the flavour profile of a distillery from this period is through blends like this.

View all blends »

Macallan Madness

With the hype of the official opening of the new (£140m) Macallan distillery, it would be rude not to share a few highlights from their old stock that are avalible in our May auction.

Macallan in 1996

In nineteen ninety six Macallan produced two iconic whiskies and arguably two of the most collectable whiskies every produced. The Macallan Private Eye, bottled in 1996 for the 35th anniversary of the magazine. The whisky is a vatting of several casks including a 1961 vintage to represent the year the magazine was founded. The very catching screen printed label was designed by Ralph Steadman, a freelance illustrator for the magazine. At the time of release they decided to keep the price of the whisky in theme with the occasion and therefore sold them for £35. To put things into perspective the p&p was £6.95. The Nicol’s Nectar is another classic collectable Macallan and is somewhat rarer than the Private Eye. Produced for the occasion of Peter Nicol’s retirement from the office. The label was drawn by artist Colin Rizza who has created numerous labels for the distillery. These were never sold publicly but instead given to everyone who worked at the distillery at the time. From a close and very reliable source approximately only 120 bottles were produced.

Macallan Private Eye

Macallan Nicol’s Nectar

Experience Macallan ten, through the decades

We have a run of 10-year-olds bottled from the seventies through to the noughties. This would make a great line-up for anyone planning a whisky tasting and would given those attending a much clearer understanding of how the profiles of the same whisky can changes over many decades.

See more like this » 

A run of Macallan through the decades 1970s – 2000s

Masters Of Photography

The Masters Of Photography by Rankin is a series of 1,000 bottles and unique portraits taken by Rankin on the Macallan estate that heavily features Easter Elchies House. Most will agree the best portraits include the nude shots of Tuuli, Rankin’s inspiration and wife. Each piece is presented with the original Polaroid that is depicted on the bottle of 30 year old with a booklet telling the story and Rankin’s signature to certify it’s an original.

”This project is very special to me for two reasons. Firstly, I’ve been able to come back to the country of my birth and portray its beauty through one of the most ambitious projects I’ve ever attempted. The second reason is that this collection marks the full stop after Polaroid, as we head into the digital age.” 

View all » 

Macallan Masters Of Photography – Rankin 

The Masters Of Photography by Annie Leibowizs is a set of four single cask Macallan that feature the actor Kevin McKidd. The scenes include The Library, The Skyline, The Bar & The Gallery. Within the whole series there were 1000 bottles produced. The library edition has the smallest outrun with only 145 bottles, the other three in this series yielded 285 bottles making The Library edition the rarest of the four bottlings. Taking this into account means there were only 145 possible complete sets available Worldwide.

View all »

Macallan Masters Of Photography – Annie Leibowitz

As always there’s a whole load more of amazing whiskies to discover over on our website. If you’re not already registered, you can do so here.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

NEW ALCOHOL MINIMUM PRICING LAWS

In an effort to combat irresponsible drinking throughout Scotland, the Scottish government has introduced legislation, enforcing a minimum price that alcohol can be sold for.

From May 1st 2018 the minimum price of an alcoholic drink sold in Scotland is £0.50 per unit. All licensed premises are now unable to sell alcoholic beverages at a price that equates to any less than this.

To ensure our auctions are compliant with this new law our starting bid for all lots is now £20 without exception.

You can read more about this on the Scottish Government’s website.

WHAT EFFECT DOES THIS HAVE ON ME?

Will this change the price I pay?
The majority of the lots sold at auction exceed the minimum alcohol price, this will not change. In order to comply with the law, we will no longer be selling any lot for less than £20. This starting bid is to cover whiskies which may be higher than 40%

What does this mean for sellers?
This change to our starting bid means that no individual lot can sell for any amount less than £20.
If you feel an item will not exceed the minimum price set out by the Government, we would not recommend sending it to us.

If you are unsure please contact us at Scotch Whisky Auctions for further advice.

HOW TO CALCULATE THE MINIMUM PRICE OF ALCOHOL

The minimum price can be calculated like this:

(ABV * Bottle Size in CL) / 100
*
0.5

Example: (Regular bottle of 40% whisky):

(40% abv * 70cl) = 2800
Divided by 100 = 28 units of alcohol
Multiplied by 0.5 = £14.00 minimum price

MAY AUCTION NOW LIVE
(ends Sunday 27^th May)

…place your bids at www.whiskyhammer.co.uk

With an incredible selection of whiskies and other fine spirits there is certainly something for everyone – whether you are looking to collect, invest, enjoy!

MAY AUCTION NOW LIVE
(ends Sunday 27^th May)

…place your bids at www.whiskyhammer.co.uk

With an incredible selection of whiskies and other fine spirits there is certainly something for everyone – whether you are looking to collect, invest, enjoy!

EXCEPTIONAL SELECTION OF MACALLANS AT BONHAMS WHISKY SALE IN EDINBURGH

Dalmore 50 year-old 1926. Estimate £10,000-14,000

A rare bottle of Dalmore 50 year-old 1926 leads Bonhams Whisky Sale in Edinburgh on Wednesday 6 June.  It is estimated at £10,000-14,000.

The whisky, which has been described as having the complex aroma of old English marmalade, ripe bananas, treacle toffee and fruitcake, comes in a ceramic decanter with its own presentation case. Unusually, the Dalmore Stag emblem is completely intact.

The sale has a particularly strong offering of Macallan whiskies with more than 45 bottles. 25 of these come from a distinguished Italian collection and include:

A selection of Macallans 1954-1959

• A bottle of the Macallan 1954 and of the Macallan 1955, each estimated at £3,800-4,200
• Two bottles of the Macallan-Glenlivet 35 year-old 1938; the Macallan-Glenlivet 35 year-old 1940, and the Macallan-Glenlivet 35 year-old 1938. Each pair of bottles is estimated at £3,400-4,000.

Among Macallan whiskies in the sale from other collections are:

• A bottle of the Macallan 1951.  One of only 632 bottles, this is estimated at £10,000-12,000
• A bottle of the Macallan Private Eye bottled to mark the 35^th anniversary of the satirical magazine.  It is estimated at £3,500-4,000.
• A bottle of the Macallan 1957. Bottled in 1982 in honour of the 25th Anniversary of Rinaldi Brothers Inc., it is estimated at £3,000-4,000.

Bonhams Whisky specialist in Edinburgh, Martin Green said: “We are very fortunate for this sale to have such an impressive number of Macallan whiskies of such wide variety and exceptional quality. I am anticipating keen interest from collectors”

NOTES

Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world’s largest and most renowned auctioneers, offering fine art and antiques, motor cars and jewellery. The main salerooms are in London, New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, with auctions also held in Knightsbridge, Edinburgh, Paris, San Francisco and Sydney. With a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 22 countries, Bonhams offers advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas. For a full list of forthcoming auctions, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, please visit bonhams.com.

APRIL AUCTION RESULTS 2018

Last night’s auction kicked off with a couple of record results. Firstly for the Macallan 1948, which finished up at £15,100. It’s not a bottle we often see anymore so it wasn’t much of a surprise to see it climb to such heights. Similarly, the Bowmore 1955 40 year old is a stunning bottle which we haven’t seen at auction for a while. This bottle spent years hovering around the £4000 mark at auction and I remember speculating about when it would pick up the pace a little. With a record hammer price of £11,100, it seems that time is now. A legendary whisky which was under appreciated for many years.

Back to Macallan and it seems that being official is still what counts. The Speymalt 1945 Macallan finished up at £7600 and the 1955 at £4200. These seem comparatively cheap compared to many official bottlings. The 1945 in particular is a remarkable bottling, being not only the oldest Macallan ever bottled but one of the oldest whiskies ever bottled full stop.

The cask of 1993 Bruichladdich finished at £7100, not quite Macallan territory but natural market value for a mature, naturally low ABV bonded cask. If the strength had been higher I suspect the price for this one would have been quite different.

Some other strong results from Macallan with the Diamond Jubilee bottling hitting £3400, quite bizarre for what is essentially an NAS whisky, but this is the power of Macallan. The 1958 Anniversary Malt at £3500 looks like a good deal in comparison from a liquid quality perspective. It seems many old, official sherry bombs are doing well these days, as evidenced by the Glendronach 1968 25 year old single cask for ANA Nippon Airways which fetched £2600. These bottlings have long possessed a high reputation so it’s no surprise to see them climbing to these heights. I suspect they won’t stop here.

This sale featured a wonderful selection of old SMWS bottlings and it’s no surprise that many of them performed remarkably well. The last time a bottle of the 1966 Ardbeg 33.13 came to auction it was with us in 2016 when it fetched £1600. This time the price was £3100, almost double its previous best. Although, this is no great surprise considering how rare this bottle is. The fact that the 1974 Ardbeg 33.12 also hit £3000 is no great surprise either. These old Ardbegs from the 1970s and 60s are stunning, mythical whiskies, add to that the collectability of the old SMWS bottlings now and you have a recipe for serious value as evidenced here.

Other impressive SMWS results were the Brora 1977 61.3 at £1400, the Ardbeg 1977 33.15 for £1300 – a bottle that could be had for around £400-500 very recently – the Glen Garioch 1968 19.18 and the Clynelish 1976 26.25 for £975. The prices generally for all the SMWS bottlings in this sale were strong. Something which goes to show, if you have a big collection of SMWS rarities, it’s often better to sell them together in one auction and generate a kind of ‘feeding frenzy’ effect.

As we’ve noted in the previous two auctions, Macallan bottlings such as the Exceptional Casks series which were previously around the £300-500 price range have shot into the four figure stratosphere without warning. The same can be said of the Easter Elchies bottlings. Examples such as the 1990 15 year old Easter Elchies edition was still reasonably affordable up until quite recently. Last night the very same bottling fetched £2600, as did several other Easter Elchies bottlings. Once again, that name ‘Macallan’ only seems to be picking up more and more traction at auction.

Other notable examples were the Laphroaig 10 year old from the 1970s which fetched £2350. Even by these bottlings recent standards this is impressive and just goes to show the demand there is out there for this style of whisky which, for some ridiculous reason, no one makes any more. The same could be said of the Bowmore Sherriff’s ship label for £1850. And, while we’re on Laphroaig, it was nice to see the 1976 and 1977 official vintage bottlings back, they’re not seen very often these days and the price of £1550 apiece is understandable and well deserved.

In terms of bargains in this sale there were a few but not many – as is very much the norm these days. A litre of 12 year old Bowmore from the early 1980s was a snip at £235 and there were still some pretty tasty old examples in the First Cask series to be had for quite drinkable prices, key examples being 1970s Caol Ilas and Highland Parks. Although, even this series is starting, inevitably, to climb higher these days. It seems, as knowledge increasingly proliferates, there are fewer and fewer ‘gems’ to be discovered or snapped up for cheap. A sellers market indeed.

Even below the £200 mark there were some eye-popping prices. SMWS bottlings like the Springbank 1993 7 year old 27.45 for £180 or the Laphroaig 1990 8 year old 29.11 for £195 are in many ways even more illustrative of the power and collectability of SMWS whiskies these days. These seem crazy prices for what are good, but ultimately very young whiskies. A North Port 1981 and Tomatin 1976 can be had for the same price. These kinds of results demonstrate the polarisation of the secondary market for whisky and illustrate just how complex it is compared even to a few years ago. It’s not a bubble anymore, it’s bubbles within bubbles. How the market will continue to evolve over time remains to be seen. But, on the evidence of this auction, desire remains as strong as ever for all manner of whiskies and for all kinds of reasons. Healthy in other words.

SEE OUR CURRENT AUCTION

Get bidding, and good luck!

The Whisky.Auction Team

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