Most Valuable Whisky Collection Ever To Be Auctioned At Sotheby’s

Described by auction house Sotheby’s as “The Ultimate Whisky Collection,” a record-breaking collection of whisky will be sold in London later this month. It is very likely to become the most valuable collection of whisky ever offered at auction, and the first single-owner offering of spirits from the auction house.

The collection’s mysterious U.S.-based owner, known only as “The Ultimate Whisky Collector,” is selling 394 lots, comprising 467 bottles and nine casks. The entire collection is estimated to be worth approximately $4.9 million.

This particular upcoming auction may deserve the superlatives that the news storieshave attached to it. Here’s some of the whisky that’s up for grabs.

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The Macallan whisky comprises half the lots, with a total estimated value of $2.7 million. The bottles on offer are a showcase of 70 years of whisky production. They include a 60-year-old Macallan 1926 sourced from the same cask as the bottle that was sold for $1.2 million last year (this particular bottle is estimated at $550,000), two Macallan in Lalique Six Pillars Collections (a series of 6 bottles also estimated at $550,000 for the bunch), a vertical series of 18-year-old Macallans that have been released over decades, and a wall-mounted cabinet designed by craftsman James Laycock holding a collection of 46 Macallan Fine and Rare miniatures from 1937 to 1991, expected to sell for $107,000.

There’s plenty more beyond The Macallans. A vertical of official Port Ellen releases (the Pappy Van Winkle of the Scotch whisky world), the 1st to the 17th editions, will be sold by the bottle. A couple of 70-year-old offerings from Gordon and Macphail, a Mortlach ($25,000) and a Glenlivet ($23,000), are also available. Various releases from Italian bottler Silvano Samaroli, who is treasured amongst collectors, are also likely to hit high into five figures per bottle.

Other aged whiskies include the oldest official bottlings from Glenfiddich (a 64 year old from 1937) and Balvenie (a 50 year old, also from 1937), alongside 50+ old Dalmores and a 50-year-old Highland Park.

The Ultimate Whisky Collector himself had this to say about his selection: “I started this collection and realized that if I really spent time on it and was selective in my choices, I might be able to put together something significant and unique. Two decades on, I think the collection is at that point where it is indeed unique. Having cherished these bottles, I am now ready to share them with collectors around the world.”

The sale will open for online bidding on September 27, and end in a live auction on October 24 at the Olympia event space in West Kensington, London, taking place alongside RM Sotheby’s sale of collectible motor cars on the same day.

Sotheby’s Wine chairman Jamie Ritchie believes that the event is going to make history: “This groundbreaking sale reminds me of the first wine sales that Sotheby’s held in New York in 1994 and Hong Kong in 2009 and we believe it will come to be viewed as a similarly historic moment in the spirits market.”

Source: Felipe Schrieberg, Forbes Magazine