January Auction Highlights 2017
Each month we aim to uncover rare, old & obscure whiskies and our first auction of 2017 is no exception! We have a variety of exceptional whiskies that we haven’t auctioned for quite some time along with some exciting relics we haven’t auctioned before.
Starting with the 1960s because that’s where some of our favourite bottlings are from in this auction. We have an extremely rare 14 year old Clynelish bottled by the Royal Marine Hotel Brora. The label interestingly mentions it’s A Fine Old Brora Whisky and Not Less than 92 proof. We believe this would have been bottled in 1969 making this a 1955 distillate. This is a truly extraordinary piece of liquid history and marks its first appearance in a UK online auction. Followed by a none-sherried Macallan from 1950s distillate; if it’s to be compared to similar expressions under the AS WE GET IT label then you’re in for a treat.
Other examples from the 1960s are a Milton-Duff 13-year-old, Miltonduff-Glenlivet 20-year-old bottled by Forth Wines and one of the hard to find 8-year-old Cardhu’s released in 1968.
Moving on to the 1970s, you will find a dumpy 12-year-old Highland Park along with a dumpy 12-year-old Glendronach. An immaculate 10-year-old Tormore that’s often overlooked and the likes of a 10-year-old Tullibardine & Bruichladdich to name but a few.
The 1980s brings us the legendary sherry matured Caol Ila 12-year-old by James MacArthur, an imported Mortlach 12-year-old from the USA and other excellent drams including a White Horse Lagavulin, 12-year-old Springbank and a dumpy Glenfarclas 25-year-old.
In the mid to high range of this sale, you will find 25 & 30-year-old Brora’s from the Special Annual Releases. The 1968 Auld Acquaintance from Bunnahabhain and a long overdue appearance for the 1963 from the mid-1990s. Those who are into their heavily sherried whiskies we have a very limited 1966 Glenrothes drawn from a single first fill sherry cask in 2002, a 1966 Glenfarclas from their Family Casks and a single cask Glendronach from 1971.
For Glenfiddich fans, we have some older official single casks from 1968, 1974 and 1975. The Port Ellen 1st annual release is back again along with the much rarer and harder to find 1981 from the 2008 Islay Festival.
For the first time since 2015, we welcome back the Highland Park 1958 40-year-old, this bottling is now starting to get particularly hard to find and it’s a remarkable and truly beautiful whisky that wears its age very gracefully…… Another new appearance for Highland Park is the King Christian I; released in February 2016 the Highland Park King Christian I is part of the Warrior series and was available exclusively through global travel retail. The whisky itself is matured in a combination of refill butts and hogsheads of exceptional age.
Of course one of the main highlights of this sale is the infamous 1964 Bowmore Trilogy. Consisting of the 42-year-old Black Bowmore, the 43-year-old White Bowmore and finally the 44-year-old Gold Bowmore. This final trilogy in the series is very rarely seen together in one auction and as far as we are aware is not available to buy at the same time anywhere in the world!
From the independent bottlers, we have a Springbank Cadenhead dumpy 30-year-old from 1950 which we haven’t seen since 2014. A Springbank 1965 by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society matured in an Oloroso sherry cask. From Berry Bros, we have a Talisker 1959 and by G&M we have two 100 proofs from 1964 and 1967.
It’s no surprise with the growth in the secondary market we have an abundance of Macallan. First off and for the first time in auction history, we have a full case of 12 Private Eye in their original outer case. The case was purchased upon release by a member of staff and has been stored unopened until we received them recently. This is a great opportunity to acquire 12 immaculate bottles with untouched provenance. For the first time in nearly 3 years discover the 51-year-old 1948 Select Reserve. This is one of the all-time great Macallan’s and is considered in the same league as the 1949 millennium and many of the greatest Fine & Rare releases. Under their 25-year-old Anniversary Malt series, we have vintages from 1957, 1958/59, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1975 along with several non-vintages. Under their 18-year-olds there’s a 1966, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981 and a hand full of 1990s.
All in all, this is a very diverse and interesting sale with many more great bottles on offer, so be sure to check the whole auction.
We wish you all the best for 2017 and hope to uncover many more exciting new whiskies for you throughout this year. From all of us here at Whisky Online Auctions.