J’AIME JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022

F E AT U R E
In search of liquid gold
WHISKY HAS BECOME THE ULTIMATE LONG-TERM TIPPLE – AS EXCITING TO KEEP AS IT IS
TO DRINK. ROBERT FRENCH, WINE AND WHISKY SPECIALIST AT RICHARD WINTERTON
AUCTIONEERS, RAISES A GLASS TO THE QUINTESSENTIAL CONSUMABLE COLLECTABLE
Neat, as a highball or in a cocktail, our love of
whisky is far from on the rocks.
But whichever way you opt to quaff, another option
for the forward-thinking is not to drink it at all.
Straight up!
There’s a world of whisky out there which may never
see the inside of a glass – or, if it does, will form a
very pricey tipple indeed.
Wealth reports regularly show the golden spirit on or
around the top of the Luxury Investment Index and
in some circles it has become quite the status symbol.
In October 2019, a bottle of The Macallan 1926, a
‘Fine and Rare’ 60-year-old from the hallowed cask
263 and one of only 40 bottles ever produced, set
a new world record after selling for £1.5 million at
Sotheby’s.
In effect, it values one shot of the Scotch as costing
the same as a Porsche.
More recently, The Macallan Red Collection – a rare
set of six whiskies, including two of the distillery’s
oldest at 74 and 78 years old – sold at £756,400 at
Sotheby’s in November 2020, with proceeds going to
food charity City Harvest London.
But aside from these lofty highs, there’s a wealth of
whisky worth cashing in right now.
Scotch squirrelled away in the 1970s could be worth
four figures today.
While top-end rare whisky prices have risen by as
much as 400 per cent in the last decade, demand is
strong across the board and spirits, wine and port
sections in our auctions regularly achieve a 100 per
cent selling rate.
But how do you know there’s a whisky windfall
hiding away unopened in the back of your drinks
cupboard?
Ones to watch out for include Scottish single malts
such as The Macallan, Clynelish, Benromach,
Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Glenlugie, Brora, Bowmore and
Ben Wyvis.
A bottle of The Macallan 25th anniversary fetched
£2,700 with Richard Winterton Auctioneers in
ROBERT FRENCH, WINE AND
WHISKY SPECIALIST AT RICHARD
WINTERTON AUCTIONEERS
2019, and we sold a bottle of Bowmore Bicentenary
1779-1979 Islay single malt for £2,600 in 2020.
And last year a bottle of Laphroaig malt whisky – a
rare example from a limited amount exported to
America in the late 1950s – made £3,300.
Also highly collectable is unusual whisky such as
Loch Dhu, also known as ‘The Black Whisky’. Very
different to the golden tones classically associated
with Scotch, this very distinctive single malt gets its
signature colour from maturing in double-charred
casks and regularly sells at auction for £200.
The most coveted whiskies come from low-yielding
batches; others to collect include product from
distilleries no longer producing – so-called ‘silent’ or
‘lost’ distilleries such as Glen Mhor, St Magdalene
and Ladyburn.
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