NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR AMERICAN WHISKEY AT SOTHEBY’S

Bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle ‘Van Winkle Selection’ Sells for $125,000

Historic Result for the Only Bottle in Existence

NEW YORK, – A one-of-a-kind bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle ‘Van Winkle Selection’ Kentucky Bourbon Festival Master Distiller’s Auction 2007 shattered records at Sotheby’s today, achieving $125,000 and becoming the most valuable single bottle of post-prohibition American whiskey ever sold at auction.* Offered with an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000, this ultra-rare bottle captivated collectors with its unique provenance, likely containing whiskey from the legendary Stitzel-Weller distillery, and its historical significance as one of the highest-proof Van Winkle releases ever produced. 

The bottle, which has not been seen in nearly 20 years, was originally created for the 2007 Kentucky Bourbon Festival and hand-bottled at full strength under the supervision of Julian Van Winkle. Its label, designed by Preston Van Winkle, and the glass, signed by Julian P. Van Winkle III and dated 9-15-07, add to its exceptional rarity and desirability. 

Zev Glesta, Sotheby’s Whiskey Specialist, commented: “This sale marks a defining moment in the history of American whiskey, underscoring the legendary status of Van Winkle bottlings and the continued strength of the fine and rare whiskey market. Bringing such a remarkable piece of American whiskey history to auction is a testament to the growing appreciation for the craft and heritage of American distilling.” 

The sale of this bottle further cements Sotheby’s leadership in the spirits market, building on past successes with rare American whiskey, historic Scotch collections, and one-of-a-kind whiskey auctions. With today’s result, Sotheby’s once again demonstrates the increasing global demand for American whiskey and the unparalleled prestige of the Van Winkle name in the world of fine spirits.

A selection of high-res images is available for download here. 

The Whisky & Whiskey online auction continues with significant offerings from The Macallan, Van Winkle and more. See the full catalogue here.

*The previous record was $107,715 for Van Winkle 18-year-old Bourbon for Binny’s, a price that includes buyer’s premium and tax.

About Sotheby’s

Established in 1744, Sotheby’s is the world’s premier destination for art and luxury. Sotheby’s promotes access to and ownership of exceptional art and luxury objects through auctions and buy-now channels including private sales, e-commerce and retail. Our trusted global marketplace is supported by an industry-leading technology platform and a network of specialists spanning 40 countries and 70 categories which include Contemporary Art, Modern and Impressionist Art, Old Masters, Chinese Works of Art, Jewelry, Watches, Wine and Spirits, and Design, as well as collectible cars and real estate. Sotheby’s believes in the transformative power of art and culture and is committed to making our industries more inclusive, sustainable and collaborative.

 *Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer’s premium and are net of any fees paid to the purchaser where the purchaser provided an irrevocable bid.

Stream live auctions and place bids in real time, discover the value of a work of art, browse sale catalogues, view original content and more at sothebys.com, and by downloading Sotheby’s apps for iOS and Android.

Macallan 25 Year Old “Distillery Bottling” Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml)

$2,399.99

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Extremely limited! Macallan’s 25-year-old sherry casks are a modern classic. From the distillery: “The Macallan Sherry Oak 25 years old forms part of our Sherry Oak range which features a series of single malt whiskies matured exclusively in hand-picked sherry seasoned oak casks from Jerez for richness and complexity… Laying undisturbed in the same casks for a quarter of a century, the maturing spirit transforms to create this luxurious single malt whisky characterised by its rich flavours of vanilla, dried fruits and ginger spice with a long finish and rich mahogany colour.”

Whisky Advocate
Review Date: 02/2011

An intense candy treat of a whisky that announces itself with rose petal, honey and hard candy on the nose. On the palate this cycles through a number of candied notes-fruity for the most part, with cherry character, but including butterscotch and a slight pine forest flavor. The long finish serves as another tour of the palate, with a nutty element. Sherry casks.

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

We’re bringing main character energy to this week’s Thursday Drop. Because our Milroy’s Exclusive Eagle Rare has arrived, and it’s so delicious it deserves the limelight solo!

The celebrated brand is crafted at the much-loved Buffalo Trace distillery, a long-aged Kentucky straight bourbon known for its elegance and expressiveness. We’ve got all that here, as well as the individuality that comes with a barrel pick.

We especially love its toffeed, cocoa- and orange-peel forward profile, made all the more intricate with green herbal and floral honey notes. It’s a treat neat in a tasting glass, but it also shines in classic cocktails.

Enjoy!

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Decadent Drams Sideburn 31 years old

Get down to a new groove from Decadent Drinks Studios…. Sideburn: Givin’ It Both Barrels. This is the hotly anticipated new studio release and follow up to last year’s critically acclaimed ‘Sideburn’. 31 years in the making, it features the thrilling mix of a 1992 refill barrel and a 1993 first fill barrel. This brave new blended malt vibe has been mastered with zero reduction at full volume! Feel those funky fruits, jive to the honey, and get down with your wax on!

£245.00 incVAT

New Maltstock Logo

We started Maltstock 15 editions ago sharing the love for whisky and people. All this time our logo has been a colorful circle.

Annette, Bob, Klaas, Stan and Teun

We have come full circle now with people finding love at Maltstock! Lita has been our highly appreciated member of our crew since the very first edition. Jurgen started as very relaxed guest and has been a fantastic member of our crew now for many years. A couple of weeks ago they had a wonderful wedding and fantastic party! Making them the relaxed whisky couple? 😉

In honour of Lita and Jürgen marrying we decided to change our logo for 2025! Here is it, you can’t miss it as we continue the spread our message of relaxed love!

So we have decided to change our logo. Celebrating the love. The world can use some more love anyway.

• The love for whisky.
• The love for sharing.
• The love for people.
• The love for making new friends.
• The love for meeting old friends.
• The love for fun.
• The love for relaxed

Whisky brings people together and we love that! We hope you all love our new logo.

Buy your Maltstock ticket Now

Our collection schedule for April 2025 has now been finalised. There are a few changes this month, our Aberdeen collection will now start at 10am. Our South West London and East London collections will now start at 9.30am.

For April only we will be offering our North West London (Brent Cross) customers appointments on Monday 21st April 2025 at 8am. Please click HERE to see the list of dates, locations and to register your interest in the collection service.  We can collect lots for up to three auctions.

The deadline for collection requests is 12noon on Monday 14th April 2025.

Home collections are available for those customers sending 10+ bottles or bottles to the value of £1000. Lots can be split over the next three auctions.   Unfortunately this service is not available in London or to those customer who live within 10 miles of a collection point. Although we do have four collection points in London.

Collections are limited and offered on a first come first served basis. It is essential that a submission sheet is completed, you can find the link to do so under the selling section on your ‘My SWA’ page.

It would be appreciated if bottles could be packed for uplift with your name clearly marked on the front of the box. A winner in our auction? We are now offering a delivery 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.

Bladnoch unveils new taste initiative to share its bold Galloway spirit

Scotland’s oldest privately-owned Scotch whisky distillery, Bladnoch has unveiled an innovative new global tasting initiative designed to give more whisky enthusiasts the chance to sample its bold Galloway spirit.

Designed to bring the distillery’s taste-first philosophy to life, the Bladnoch ‘dram back’ program will allow whisky fans to try single malts from the distillery, formerly known as ‘Queen of the Lowlands’.

Running from March, the ‘dram back’ initiative will initially be available on Bladnoch Wave I: Time & Maturation, before being rolled out across three more of the distillery’s most popular whiskies: Bladnoch Alinta, Bladnoch Samsara and Bladnoch 8 Year Old.

As part of the tasting initiative, 50cl dram sample pouches of Bladnoch Wave I: Time & Maturation will be available to order directly from the Bladnoch website, priced at £15 RRSP each including postage and packaging in the UK or as part of an international order, allowing whisky fans to put taste considerations front and centre when deciding on their next whisky purchase. Each tasting pouch is made with sugarcane, offering a sustainable and eco-friendly way to try a new whisky dram.

For a limited time only, Bladnoch Distillery will also give the ‘dram back’ to each of its customers if they go on to purchase a full-size bottle of the whisky they sampled at a later date, with the cost of their initial dram deducted from the bottle price at checkout.

Bladnoch Wave I: Time & Maturation is the first expression in The Wave: a five-part limited-edition series which showcases the five pillars of whisky making. Bottled at 53.8% ABV, the expression demonstrates the marrying process of whisky casks, opening with floral pine needles and fresh cut oak on the nose and imparting notes of sweet oak and toasted coconut on the palate, with a sweet, warm, refreshing finish.

‘Alinta’, an indigenous Australian word from several southeast Australian language groups, means ‘fire’ and ‘flames’ and evokes the notes of campfire embers found in each sip. Bladnoch Alinta utilises PX sherry and ex-bourbon casks combined with a sweet, smoky, peated spirit, setting this unique expression apart from anything previously released by Bladnoch.

Bladnoch Samsara, meaning ‘rebirth’, is a full-bodied and fragrant blend of malts matured in Californian red wine and ex-bourbon casks. This unique non-age-statement single malt whisky is rich and sweet, with notes of vanilla, fudge and citrus.

Bladnoch 8 Year Old is aged exclusively in American oak red wine casks, each hand-selected by Nick to bring together this rich expression featuring a nose of strawberries with herbal pine cones and a palate of strawberry jam, polished oak and nutmeg, with a very long, sugary and warm finish.

Nick Savage, master distiller at Bladnoch Distillery, said: “Our taste-first philosophy is at the heart of everything we do at Bladnoch. We’re proud of our signature grassy, floral spirit, which is typical of the Lowlands. However, we also use our taste-first approach to take educated risks and provide a range of whisky experiences, rather than being constrained by traditional whisky conventions.

“We believe that the best way to understand our taste-first philosophy is to taste it. Our ‘dram back’ initiative is our way of saying thank you for supporting our whisky, and we’re looking forward to sharing more drams with our whisky fans around the world this spring.”

Dating back to 1817, Bladnoch Distillery is one of the oldest single malt Scotch whisky producers in the world and is enjoying a bold and powerful revival. The legacy brand has been revived in recent years by David Prior, who purchased Bladnoch Distillery in 2015 and is the first Australian businessman to own a Scotch whisky distillery.

To purchase a dram of Bladnoch whisky, visit: https://www.bladnoch.com/products/the-wave-i-dram

For more information about Bladnoch Distillery, visit: www.bladnoch.com.

Tasting notes

Bladnoch Alinta

Campfire. Floral. Sweet.

Nose: Smoky ice cream, delicate floral with sweet oak.

Palate: Campfire smoke, almonds, raisins with a white chocolate body.

Finish: Long, with a sweet smoke.

ABV: 47%

RRSP: £75 

Bladnoch Samsara

Bourbon and red wine casks.

Nose: Vanilla cream, floral with fresh cut apples.

Palate: Thick vanilla fudge, sweet floral grass.

Finish: Rich, mouth coating, leading to refreshing citrus.

ABV: 46.7%

RRSP: £70  

Bladnoch 8 Year Old

Strawberries, jam, herbal.

Nose: Strawberries, with herbal pine cones.

Palate: Strawberry jam, polished oak and nutmeg

Finish: Very long, sugary and warm feeling.

ABV: 46.7%

RRSP: £60 

Wave I: Time & Maturation

Floral, oak, sweet

Nose: Floral pine needles with fresh cut oak

Palate: Sweet oak and toasted coconut

Finish: Sweet, warm and refreshing

ABV: 53.8%

RRSP: £150 

About Bladnoch Distillery

Bladnoch Distillery was established in 1817, making it the oldest privately owned Scotch whisky distillery in the world. As the southernmost distillery in Scotland, Bladnoch is commonly referred to as the ‘Queen of the Lowlands.’

Hand-crafted using malt from British growers and the pristine water from the River Bladnoch which flows alongside the distillery, Bladnoch single malts are non-chill filtered to ensure the truest flavours shine through.

This legacy brand has been revived in recent years by Master Distiller, Dr Nick Savage, formerly of The Macallan, and owner David Prior, who purchased Bladnoch Distillery in 2015 and is the first Australian businessman to own a Scotch whisky distillery.

The Grand Whisky Auction is now LIVE!

The auction closes on Tuesday, 15th April from 9:00pm (BST)

________________________________

Are you interested in selling whisky in our next auction?

📞 +44 (0)1463 210 427

📧 sales@tgwa.com

INTRODUCING JACK DANIEL’S
10 YEAR OLD

Jack Daniel’s is one of the most recognisable names in spirits, having helped define Tennessee whiskey since the 19th century. While Old No. 7 remains this Lynchburg distillery’s most famous expression, Jack Daniel’s has expanded its range over the years, including its latest release, aged for ten long years under the Tennessee sun – a feat not to be underestimated.

This rare age-statement release from Jack Daniel’s is rich and layered after a decade in American white oak. The classic banana bread aroma we love to see from this famed distillery shows beautifully here, accompanied by concentrated butterscotch, tobacco, candied orange and sweet spices.

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NEW RELEASE

We are delighted to present the latest release of the Distil Your World Series: Distil Your World Hong Kong.

The Macallan Lead Whisky Maker, Euan Kennedy, and Joan Roca, one-third of the Roca brothers, owners of El Celler de Can Roca, twice named World’s Best Restaurant, went in search of the essence of the city. Hong Kong has managed to re-imagine the possibilities of the public space, mixing ancient tradition with startling modernity.

The Distil Your World Hong Kong documentary showcases the inspiration behind the creation of an exceptional whisky and a culinary adventure.

DISCOVER THE WHISKY

Distil Your World Hong Kong will be available in The Macallan Boutiques, premium specialist retailers and exclusive premium non-specialist retailers around the world, and by the dram in The Macallan Bar at The Macallan Estate subject to availability. 

THE WHISKY

This whisky captures the energy and complexity of Hong Kong. It is a symphony of flavours, with rich intensity from ginger, spice and antique oak, balanced by the tropical vibrancy of mango and grapefruit. Each layer contributes to a rich and multifaceted experience that mirrors the city’s dynamic nature.

TASTING NOTES

EXPLORE COLOUR, NOSE, PALATE & FINISH

COLOUR

Natural

AROMA

Rich, resinous and sweet. Aromas of decadent ginger and spices, balanced by vibrant tropical characteristics like pomelo and mango. Subtle suggestions of Hong Kong style egg tart, fragrant honey, and incredible antique oak.

PALATE

Viscous and mouth coating at first, bright tropical sweetness is followed by beautiful ginger and rounded spices providing great structure. Gentle waves of aged oak, grapefruit and an umami like depth.

FINISH

Vibrant antique oak continues to shine.