Sotheby’s Halloween whisky sale nets £1m

Sotheby’s dedicated whisky sale this Halloween realised over £1.7 million, with a private collection selling for £1m and a set of old Macallans raising £756,400 for charity.

The sale at the weekend was the first in what the auctioneer has said is going to be a new fixture in its autumn calendar of sales.

The auction featured two standout consignments. The first was a complete set of The Macallan ‘Red’ collection (with one off label designs), a set of malts aged 40 to 78 years old – the latter being the oldest whisky released by the distillery and the oldest ever offered at auction.

It was acquired by an Asian collector for £756,400 with the proceeds going to City Harvest London, which raises funds for food charity and redistributes surplus food to vulnerable people.

Igor Boyadjian, managing director, The Macallan, said: “Global communities are key to The Macallan and as part of our commitment to giving back, we are pleased to have collaborated with Sotheby’s to auction this extremely rare, complete set of The Red Collection, which features our oldest ongoing aged expressions and a selection of high aged guest releases, including the oldest bottlings our brand has ever released.

“This bespoke auction lot has raised an incredible amount of funds for food charity, City Harvest London, with a final sale price of £756,400, which crucially equates to almost 2.5m meals delivered to people in need. This will allow the charity to continue to make a real difference to people’s lives, and we are very supportive of their sustainable vision and efforts to support those most in need.”

Laura Winningham, CEO of City Harvest added: We are overwhelmed with the incredible support The Macallan has given us, and the fantastic figure reached. Huge congratulations to everyone who has been involved, what terrific news!  The proceeds from this auction will be critical in nourishing and improving the lives of tens of thousands of people in the very challenging months ahead.”

Meanwhile, the bulk of the sale was given over to the second half of an extensive private collection. Sotheby’s sold the first half at its first dedicated sale in October last year and it raised over £7m.

Featuring whiskies from The Macallan, Bowmore, Glenfiddich and Dalmore, the second half of the collection realised £1,057,364, brining the grand total for both halves to £8.7m.

Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s spirits specialist, said: “This exceptional result for The Red Collection is testament not only to the strength of the whisky market but also to the esteem with which The Macallan is held. Equally, the result of The Ultimate Whisky Collection Part II cements its position as the most valuable whisky collection ever sold at auction.

“The overall total for The Ultimate Whisky Collection speaks volumes of the diversity in today’s premium whisky market and the importance of provenance to collectors. A fantastic result for Sotheby’s inaugural Halloween spirits sale and City Harvest London.”