Bidding has opened on a sale of Finest Whisky, in which The Balvenie 50 Year Old Private Cask #16560 Trunk is a headline lot. This extremely rare item containing 10 bottles of single cask 50 year old whisky from The Balvenie Distillery marks a significant milestone — the first time that any bottles from The Balvenie’s rare cask programme has been seen at auction.
Every one of the 220 bottles produced from this cask is owned by one collector — including the 22 wooden trunks in which they are housed. The owner has consigned one of the trunks to auction in order for the sale proceeds from the hammer price to be donated to two charities: WWF and The King’s Trust.
The lot closes on 29 May, carrying an estimate of £240,000-£450,000.
Speaking on the auction, Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s global head of whisky & spirits, said: “This unusual trunk represents not only 10 fantastically old and rare bottles of whisky with exceptional presentation, but more importantly, it is a glimpse into the secret world within the upper echelons of whisky collecting. The rarest offering from Balvenie has finally become public and all for the benefit of two very worthy charities.”
Cask #16560 is one of the few to be selected for the William Grant & Sons private client cask offer “event sale,” an annual programme in which only one cask selected from The Balvenie is offered to one lucky private buyer and bottled for them that year.
This sherry butt was selected by David C Stewart MBE, The Balvenie malt master, and bottled in 2021. On 14 December that same year, the cask was removed from The Balvenie distillery to be bottled.
Each of the ten bottles are contained with a carved wooden presentation case fixed with brass tube hinges. The solid oak trunk is laser engraved and gold glided with the cask number and The Balvenie logo.
The auction can be viewed here.
