A bottle of Port Ellen single malt, made for the Queen’s go to to Islay in 1980, just lately broke public sale information at Whisky Auctioneer.
This bottle is now mentioned to be the world’s most costly 12-year-old whisky after reaching a hammer worth of £100,000 on Whisky Auctioneer’s on-line platform.
An announcement from Whisky Auctioneer estimated that solely 40 of those bottles are in existence, and this specific bottle was discovered beneath the steps of a home in Edinburgh.
A bottle of Port Ellen single malt, made for the Queen’s go to to Islay in 1980, just lately broke public sale information at Whisky Auctioneer. (picture through Whisky Auctioneer)
Joe Wilson, head curator and spirits specialist at Whisky Auctioneer, defined that it was Gordon McIntosh who found the modest treasure in a cabinet beneath the steps of his household house. On the time, he didn’t know that this was one in every of Port Ellen Distillery’s ‘crown jewels.’
For the public sale, 10 bidders from the UK, U.S. and Hong Kong competed for the uncommon bottle, earlier than it reached a closing hammer worth of £100,000 (plus commissions). The successful bidder was primarily based in Hong Kong.
“This phenomenal end result has damaged the earlier public sale file for the Port Ellen distillery by greater than £25,000 and is a testomony to the particular reverence held by whisky collectors for the Islay distillery,” Wilson mentioned. “As the most costly 12-year-old whisky ever offered at public sale, the end result isn’t just one for the historical past books at Port Ellen, however for the whole Scotch whisky class.”
After almost 40 years shuttered, Port Ellen Distillery will open once more in 2023. Wilson mentioned the record-breaking bottle sale showcases the chance to personal a chunk of the distillery’s historical past as they sit up for its future.
The final time this bottle offered at public sale was with Whisky Auctioneer in 2021, reaching a hammer worth of £72,000.
In different gross sales on this public sale, a complete cask of Ardbeg distilled in 1994 reached a hammer worth of £205,000. A vertical of The Macallan’s 18 12 months Previous single malt climbed to £65,000. And a trio of vintages from lost-Japanese distillery Karuizawa reached a hammer worth of £42,000.
