Sotheby’s first Singapore whisky auction brings in new buyers

Sotheby’s successful in getting “boots on the ground” in Singapore with inaugural fine and rare whisky selection sourced from Singapore collectors achieving SG$1.4 million (£858,000) at auction.

Sotheby’s, which recently expanded its Asian presence with new offices in Singapore, held its first online whisky auction on 1 December which closed at SG$1,445,215 (£858,428.30).

Sotheby’s reported that 40% of the bidders in this auction were new bidders. Head of Wine, Asia, George Lacey, said that “the result demonstrates the potential of the Southeast Asia spirits market”.

Bidders hailed from Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, the USA, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Vietnam, with the top lots bought by established Singapore collectors.

The Inaugural Singapore Auction offered fine and rare spirits bottled during the 1970s-90s by top distilleries and legendary independent bottlers. The lots comprised over 200 fine and rare whisky bottles, all consigned to Sotheby’s by Singapore-based collectors, estimated at SG$2.4m-3.4m.

These included a number of bottles from the Karuizawa Artifices and the much sought-after Geisha series, The Macallan 72YO in Lalique Genesis decanter and The Macallan 71 YO tales of the Macallan Volume 1.

The auction house’s main target for the Inaugural Singapore Auction was to test new markets and cultivate collector communities in the region.

“Singapore has been a very exciting hub for whisky,” said Freeman Ho, recently appointed spirit specialist in Hong Kong. “They have some of the most exciting whisky events in Asia. You have the Malt Affair, an excellent collector’s event, and Whisky Live.”

He added that Sotheby’s has witnessed a steady increase in expenditure by Singapore-based collectors, who have spent triple this year compared to 2020.

Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s global head of whisky, was in town for the auction and commented on the growing importance of whisky in the auction world. “When I joined Sotheby’s in 2019, we did about US$3m a year in whisky sales. Now we are doing US$30m a year. It’s grown massively.”

“For us, it’s pretty important to try to get boots on the ground in Singapore, where we know there’s a lot of activity. A lot of people who open and drink these rare whiskies are here. It’s a great place for us to be.”

The Asian buyers, as db previously reported, were responsible for 37% of all spirits sales at Sotheby’s in 2022, with US$3m coming from Hong Kong, US$4m from China, US$1m from Taiwan and a further US$1m from Singapore.

In 2023, their contribution increased to 54% of total spirits sales, with an increase spending from young collectors under 39 accounting for over half of the total sales in the past three years.