Sotheby’s Inaugural Spirits Sale in France Now Open for Bidding, Featuring Rare Japanese and Scotch Whiskies

OPEN FOR BIDDING UNTIL 21 JANUARY 2022

PARIS & LONDON, 13 JANUARY 2022 – Bidding is now open on Sotheby’s inaugural spirits auction in France, the first of a regular series of spirits sales in Continental Europe, following the successful launch of wine auctions in France in 2021.

Leading the sale is a bottle of the magnificent The Yamazaki 50 Year Old, offered at auction for the first time in over two years, alongside a curated assortment of The Macallan, including The Fine & Rare series, arguably the most sought-after and collectible Scotch whisky series ever bottled. Comprising 11 lots with a combined pre-sale estimate in excess of €500,000, Fine & Rare Whisky | The Inaugural Spirit Sale in France will close for bidding at 1pm CET on 21 January.

Amayès Aouli, Head of Auction Sales for Continental Europe, Sotheby’s Wine, said: “We are continuing to see strong growth in the Spirits market, as demonstrated by our global sales of $21 million in 2021. Our expansion to hosting regular spirits sales in Continental Europe will add France as an important centre for collectors around the world. This opening will also provide European collectors of Spirits in general, and Whisky in particular, with the greatest access to the global market. Using the same vision as our inaugural wine sale, this auction is composed of the rarest bottles from two of the most prestigious distilleries in the world: Yamazaki and Macallan.”

The Yamazaki 50 Year Old was the oldest Japanese whisky ever bottled upon its release. This edition, the third, is one of only 150 bottles released in 2011, making it one of the rarest of Japanese whiskies (est. €200,000-300,000). The Yamazaki Distillery was established in 1923, becoming Japan’s first malt whisky distillery. Since its humble beginnings, the distillery has gone on to be one of the most popular and sought-after across the world and due to its rich history and careful management, it now has the ability to bring out exceptionally long-aged releases. Having spent over half a century in the finest Japanese Mizunara oak casks, the spirit is deep and rich, with a luxurious spice imparted from the wood. The bottle itself is etched with exquisite detail on the front, and comes housed in a handmade dark wooden box, separating it from the first two releases.  Complementing the Japanese component of the sale, a rare The Yamazaki 25 Year Old is being offered (est. €5,500-8,000).

From Scotland, the sale is made up with highly coveted bottles from The Macallan, ranging in age from 21 years to over 78 years old. The Macallan 50 Year Old in Lalique is the first edition of the Six Pillars Collection, originally released in 2005. The first and most highly coveted release from the series, only 470 decanters were produced. With not one, but two of these extraordinarily rare whiskies included in this auction, the sale offers an opportunity to complete the Lalique Collection in the form of the most difficult to obtain release of them all (each estimated at €65,000-95,000).

In addition, is a more recent release which also happens to be the oldest bottle of The Macallan ever brought to market, The Macallan The Red Collection 78 Year Old, released in 2020. Part of the Red Collection, a six-bottle series, this whisky is housed in a wooden presentation case constructed using the same wood to make The Macallan casks, with each bottle hand numbered (est. €80,000-120,000).

Completing the sale is no less than six bottles from The Macallan Fine & Rare series, dating back to 1937 (est. €26,000-35,000) and as old as 49 years (est. €26,000-38,000). The series is considered amongst the most desirable of all Scotch whiskies and very few collectors own the complete set. Sotheby’s set the world record price for a bottle of whisky when a bottle of The Macallan Fine & Rare 60 Year Old 1926 was sold for $1.9 million in 2019.

SOMETHING OLD FOR A NEW YEAR

HIGHLAND PARK 50 YEAR OLD & OTHER RARE SCOTCH AT BONHAMS FIRST WHISKY SALE IN 2022 

Highland Park – 50 year old. Estimate: HK$210,000-250,000. 

Highland Park – 50 year old. Estimate: HK$210,000-250,000. 

Bonhams global wine and spirits auction calendar in 2022 will begin in Hong Kong with Whisky sale on Friday 21 January. The sale, 470-lot strong, spotlights a series of rare but attractively-estimated Scotch whiskies, led by an exclusive charity lot of a Highland Park 50 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, donated by Edrington Hong Kong in support of the environmental cause Green Power. The special lot carries an estimate of HK$210,000-250,000.

Released in 2020, this is the third 50-year-old created in the Orkney-based distillery’s 223-year history, with only 274 bottles ever produced – this is numbered ‘1’. It was produced using a traditional solera system – best known as a method of maturing Sherry – via which contents carefully selected from nine refill casks, originally laid down in 1968, were married together in 2008, before it was re-racked into a handful of the finest first-fill sherry seasoned oak casks. After a further twelve years of maturation, one of these limited casks was blended with a small quantity of the whisky from the last 50 Year Old released by the distillery.

Signed by Highland Park Master Whisky Maker, Gordon Motion, the prized bottle is presented in a hand-made wooden box, crafted from walnut by Scottish Master Craftsman, John Galvin. The whisky is encased in an embossed heavy-weight glass bottle featuring a design inspired by the Norse heritage of Orkney – the home to the distillery – which dates back over 1200 years.

The sale proceeds will benefit Green Power, a Hong-Kong-based NGO dedicated to addressing diverse environment issues in a local context.

Bonhams Director of Wine and Spirits Asia Daniel Lam commented: “Our newly-added January sale is a response to a robust and growing market. Demand for whiskies, not only Japanese but also Scotch, remains strong and wide, and our January sale offers a wide selection of collectors’ favourites – all with attractive estimates.”

Further Scotch whisky highlights of the sale include:

·         Macallan Lalique Steam Train-1937-36 year old. Estimate: HK$520,000 – 600,000. Over the years, this edition has developed a unique character defined by a vibrancy of flavour on the palate. It celebrates the mystique of the 1930s – a golden age of rail travel – as well as the dedication and craftsmanship of the people at the distillery who went to great lengths to create this rich and enticing single malt whisky.

·         Macallan Fine & Rare-1946-56 year old. Estimate: HK$ HK$380,000 – 450,000.

·         Macallan Fine & Rare-1937-37 year old. Estimate: HK$380,000 – 450,000. The second oldest whisky from Macallan’s Fine & Rare Series, with a palate of citrus fruits and spices balanced with peat smoke, dried fruits and aged wood.

·         Macallan Millennium-1949-50 year old Decanter. Estimate: HK$320,000 – 400,000.

·         Macallan Fine & Rare-1940-35 year old. Estimate: HK$300,000 – 400,000.

Sale: Whisky Bonhams Hong Kong 21 January 2022 https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27715

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. bonhams.com

A final reminder that we will have our collection teams on the road from next week, please register your interest before the deadline dates noted below. 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.

Our latest auction will end very soon. For the benefit of our first time bidders, this is how it works:

From 7pm UK time the software has been monitoring activity on the site, and at an unspecified time it will shut down the auction. This feature has been designed to beat sniper software.

In our experience it is some time after 9.00pm before the auction ends.

If you are looking to collect the bottles from the office please note that we are now operating an appointment only system. Appointments are available from 10am-7pm Monday-Friday. You can book online when you select bottles for collection from your ‘My Collection’ within your account. Please note bottles must be paid for before they are transferred automatically into ‘My Collection’

We hope you have enjoyed the auction.

Kind regards from Glasgow,

The SWA Team.

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2022 is now in full swing and so is our 127th auction.

We’ve some absolutely fantastic lots in this month’s auction, and none more so than the Macallan Sir Peter Blake 8 Decades.

Sir Peter Blake, a central figure in the British Pop Art scene, has been creating original artworks utilising collage since the late 1950’s, and perhaps most famously on the sleeve design of The Beatles’ seminal classic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Created in 2012 to celebrate Sir Peter’s 80^th birthday, this collaboration with iconic Speyside distillery Macallan represents each decade of the artist’s life, and the significance of Blake’s oeuvre bodes well for the ongoing appreciation of this exquisite work of art.

This bottling has been fetching ever higher prices at auction as of late, so if you’re interested it might be wise to get bidding now before the hammer prices start to reach stratospheric levels.

Another bottle which has had us all entranced this month is a remarkably well preserved Highland Park 1941 25 Year Old.

Featuring the old St Magnus label style much admired by whisky enthusiasts the world over, this fine Orcadian malt was distilled in 1941, a dark time in Europe’s history, but this tremendous bottle and the whisky inside has survived unscathed.

The design and style of the bottle is timeless, and the older style Highland Park inside is often described as lighter and more well-rounded than some modern expressions.  What else can we say other than they don’t make them like they used to.

Whenever well-preserved bottles like this appear they are always fought over at auction, and this bottle has proved to be no different so place your bid now if you want to purchase your own taste of bygone days.

All the best to you and yours this new year from of all of us here at Scotch Whisky Auctions.

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Before this month’s auction draws to a close on Sunday night we wanted to draw your attention to a few venerable malts from esteemed Speyside distillery, Macallan.

Macallan 1950 Tales of the Macallan Volume 1 Lalique Decanter

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Macallan 72 Year Old Lalique Genesis Decanter

Distilled during the 1940’s this is one of the oldest Macallans ever bottled, making it an exceptionally rare single malt.  The design of the crystal Lalique decanter was inspired by Macallan’s new Distillery and Visitor Experience, with flowing lines and an understated elegance.

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Macallan 50 Year Old The Red Collection

Crafted by Macallan Master Whisky Maker Kirsteen Campbell, this single malt has spent 50 years in European oak imparting a richness of flavour unparalleled.  Part of the distinguished Red Collection, the bottle is housed in a wooden presentation box lined with red leather.

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As with anything rare and precious these malts are sure to be coveted, but time still remains and there is no collection which would not be improved by the addition of one of these masterpieces of Scottish distilling.

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We hope you all hand a great Christmas and wish you all the best in 2022

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

Our Festive auction ENDS SOON, why not treat yourself to some of the fantastic bottles featuring in this months auction.

Auction closes from 8pm (GMT) Wednesday 5^th January 2022.

www.speysidewhiskyauctions.co.uk

Featuring this auction…..

Macallan – Easter Elchies Collection 2008 – 2013

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LIVE Auction closes from 8pm (BST) Wednesday 4th January 2023

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Macallan – Traveller’s Choice 3 x 33cl

A limited edition Travellers Choice release which contains three Macallan single malts in 33.3cl size bottles. The set comprises of a 10 year old, 12 year old Elegancia and a 10 year old cask strength.

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