Blackpool’s Whisky-Online Auctions have clinched a new record for the highest price paid for a whisky bottle in a specialised internet auction. The bottle of Johnnie Walker 1805 Celebration Blend secured a winning bid of £17,000 (€20,500) in their March sale. Only 200 bottles of the blended Scotch whisky were produced nine years ago, skilfully assembled by Jim Beveridge from rare whiskies aged 45–70 years. They were created in the 200th anniversary year of John Walker’s birth but never originally sold to the general public, making them quite a collector’s piece. Diageo gifted them to public figures who had made a significant contribution to society.\r\n\r\nOnline whisky auctions have grown in confidence and become a convenient and popular platform for buying collectible and current whiskies in recent years, matching the business of many live salerooms. The Ormerod family run Whisky-Online Auctions as part of a successful retail & auction business based in the North West of England. Their previous most expensive auctioned bottle was The Macallan 55 Years Old in Lalique which sold for £12,600 in January 2014. Last year, they regained the services of whisky specialist Angus MacRaild from his previous position at Mulberry Bank Auctions, Glasgow.\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\nTaylor’s Auctions had a great mix of collectible bottles in their February sale and continued their reputation of offering the best deal to buyers. A bottle of The Macallan 18 Years Old from 1967 came of age with a bid of £480, whilst a 1975 distillation took £300. A Tullibardine 1964 42 Years Old produced £350, a Ben Nevis 26 Years Old from 1969 took £280 and Bruichladdich 21 Years Old distilled in 1965 made £260. With their new website, Taylor’s Auctions are certainly pulling in the business.\r\n\r\nBonhams first whisky auction of the year in Edinburgh had no shortage of highlights. For starters, a new record was set for the Bowmore Trilogy with the three bottles selling for £13,000. This upped the record by £1,000 for the Bowmore Black, White and Gold distilled in 1964 over the previous top price achieved by Christies, London in 2012. Although the three bottles were released separately, the price for the set is proving to be greater than selling them individually. The £3,500 paid for a bottle of Black Bowmore Final Edition set another highest price record, up 17% from the previous record. Highland Park John Goodwin 35 Years Old made two appearances with a top price of £1,200. This bottle was commissioned for the retirement of the Highland Distillers Chairman in the late 1990s. Elsewhere, prices were impressive: Laphroaig 1977 (£700), Laphroaig 1976 (£650) and the Laphroaig 27 Years Old 1980 (£700) all did well. Bunnahabhain gained places with results such as the Bunnahabhain Auld Acquaintance (£500), Bunnahabhain 1965 35 Years Old (£380) and Bunnahabhain 1968 The Family Silver (£200).\r\n\r\nRoyal Lochnagar made a surprise debut appearance in the WMI top 25 this month. So what have whisky collectors been buying to propel this distillery above the likes of Linkwood and Glendronach? Bonhams, Edinburgh sold three bottles of Lochnagar 12 Years Old 70% proof distilled and bottled by John Begg Ltd for £350. A Royal Lochnagar 25 Years Old was bottled to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Roseisle Maltings. This bottling was made from the first batch of barley to be processed at Roseisle in 1981. It reached £280 at McTear’s, (September 2013), £240 at Taylor’s Auctions, Montrose (February 2014) and £220 at Mulberry Bank Auctions (November 2013). Aside from more regular collectibles including the Manager’s Dram and Rare Malts Selection, the top price was paid for a Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseur’s Choice Royal Lochnagar 27 Years Old distilled in 1952. In the classic black label with red script, this rare bottling soared to £700 when it went under the hammer at Bonhams, Edinburgh last October.\r\n\r\n \r\n
