Time to look back at the last month’s whisky auctions, and forward to what’s happening this month. In our April edition of ‘Drams under the hammer’, we reflect on the sale of a set from the Springbank Millennium Collection. We also find out about current and upcoming auctions, including the Demeter Collection from Whisky Auctioneer.
What you missed…
Springbank Millennium Collection
One of only fifty sets ever released, Whisky.Auction sold a Springbank Millennium Collection set for £11,000 in March. The six-bottle collection features 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 Years Old bottlings. On original release, the sets were sent as gifts exclusively to those who could prove that they had collected all six bottled.
Bowmore 1966 Samaroli Bouquet
Whisky Auctioneer’s February auction saw the sale of this collaboration between Islay distillery Bowmore and Italian bottler Silvano Samaroli. Sold at auction for £25,000, the Bouquet followed Samaroli’s Flowers series, which also featured his distinctive hand-drawn labels.
Old Rip Van Winkle Family Selection 23 Years Old
The inclusion of this 23 Years Old bottling from the Old Rip Van Winkle Family Selection in Whisky Auctioneer’s latest auction is apt timing. The Van Winkle family recently celebrated what would have been the iconic bourbon family’s patriarch Julian ‘Pappy’ Van Winkle’s 150th birthday, as our sister site American Whiskey recently reported. Sold for £14,500 at auction, the 23 Years Old is a rare small-batch whisky distilled in 1986.
Coming up...
The Demeter Collection
Launched by the OurWhisky Foundation and Whisky Auctioneer, the Demeter Collection celebrates the women of the whisky industry. The curated selection of releases that make up the collection have been crafted and inspired by women in whisky. Included are bottlings from House of Hazelwood, Dalmore, Cooper King, and more from across Scotland, England, and Ireland. Highlights include a 20-year-old Ardbeg from master blender Gillian Macdonald, created exclusively for the collection.
Cadenheads Collection
Whisky Auctioneer’s current auction features more than 200 entries from independent bottler Cadenheads. Stored in “dumpie” bottles, the expressions included in this month’s auction include those from Ardbeg and Glen Ord dating back as early as the 1950s. Also included is a rum-cask bottling from Springbank: the Springbank 1973 Cadenheads 18 Years Old Rum Butt.
Karuizawa 1986 Single Sherry Cask #2399 / Scotch Whisky Research Centre
A rare find, as one of only 15 bottles made, Whisky Auctioneer’s March auction features the Karuizawa 1986 Single Sherry Cask #2399. This expression was bottled for the Scotch Whisky Research Centre in Japan. Now known as the Japanese Whisky Research Centre, the organisation is today known as one of the most prominent voices in Japanese whisky.
