The Record-shattering Sales in the Rare Whisky World
Rare whisky is going from strength to strength recently in terms of its value as a collectors asset. A monumental ten-year growth has seen the value of the market increase by 582%.
At UKV International, we make whisky cask collecting easier for collectors. Whether you’re a private collector, or represent a retail or institutional client, we’ll guide you through every step of the
process, to help you to add casks to your portfolio.
Rare whisky is going from strength to strength recently in terms of its value as a collectors asset. A monumental ten-year growth has seen the value of the market increase by 582%. This is thanks, in no small part, to some of the incredible, record breaking sales that have been occurring across the secondary market and at auctions worldwide. In a turbulent time for the global economy, collectors have been looking for more and more ways that they can diversify in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and its influence on stock markets.
Gold has traditionally been a great “safe haven” during uncertain times such as these, but more niche options such as fine wine and classic cars can also provide excellent ways to still turn a profit when equities are down. Whisky is emerging as a top performer among these “passion” class assets, and the staggering prices that some bottles can fetch at auction indicates a boom is well underway.
In October 2019, a single bottle of Macallan 1926 sold at auction $1.9million. This set a new record for the most expensive single sale of a bottle of whisky, up from the $1.2million that was previously held by a bottle from the very same cask.
. This particular cask is occasionally referred to as the “holy grail” of whisky for the very reason that bottles tend to outperform estimates at auction by a large degree. In fact, the $1.9million bottle was given an estimate of around $550,00, almost a quarter of the eventual final price.
The auction had already been high on the radar for collectors and collectors alike, as the entire lot of the auction was comprised of one of the most impressive whisky collections in history, fielded by a private, U.S. collector who had themself been nicknamed “The Ultimate Whisky Collector”. All in all, the total amount spent on the collection totalled almost $10million.
Another, more recent example, of just how luxurious the whisky market is right now, came earlier this year. In February, the collection of former PepsiCo bottling magnate Richard Gooding, dubbed “The Perfect Collection” went to auction and outperformed expectations to a similar degree. A new record was made with another bottle of Macallan 1926 selling for £825,000. Over 1000 bottles were at the auction which only encompassed some of Gooding’s former haul. The total for this February lot broke the £3million mark easily.
The collection itself was put together by Gooding over two decades, utilising his connections and ability to fly to Scotland personally to make purchases on rare bottles. Other records were broken by a bottle of Macallan 1928 anniversary bottle, which went for £92,000. This was also the first time that an online auction had seen the sale of a million-dollar bottle.
It is clear from these auctions that that the world of rare whisky is exciting place to be for both collectors right now; if you are looking to branch out into new avenues, then whisky is certainly worth a consideration.
At UKV International, we make whisky cask collection easier for collectors Whether you’re a private collector, or represent a retail or institutional client, we’ll guide you through every step of the process, to help you to add casks to your finance portfolio.
