Emma 19 Auction Records Achieved, Including Bowmore, Brora, The Glenturret, The Glen Grant and Old Pulteney
The Distillers’ One of One hosted its second biennial auction in partnership with Sotheby’s, in the stately Hopetoun House near Edinburgh on Thursday.
We visited the preview evening to see the 39-lot collection before it went on sale and then watching the auction take place was mesmerising, the skill of the auctioner and the fierce bidding.
A total of £2,248,750 / $2,715,815, more than double the pre-sale low estimate
with hammer proceeds of £1.8 million from yesterday’s auction will primarily benefit The Distillers’ Charity’s Youth Action Fund.
Across the sale, nineteen auction records were achieved: for Brora (Lot 5), Glenglassaugh (Lot 6), Glenmorangie (Lot 7), Macduff (Lot 10), Old Pulteney (Lot 11), The Glenturret (Lot 13), Bladnoch (Lot 15), Holyrood (Lot 18), Littlemill (Lot 20), Bowmore (Lot 22), Kilchoman (Lot 25), That Boutique-y Whisky Company (Lot 26), Glen Scotia (Lot 27), House of Hazelwood (Lot 29), Glen Moray (Lot 30), The Glen Grant (Lot 32), The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (Lot 33), Gordon & MacPhail (Lot 34), and The Last Drop (Lot 38).
Leading the auction was the spectacular Bowmore STAC 55 Years Old, the oldest whisky ever released by the distillery, which sold for £562,500 / $679,331 (est. £300,000-500,000). A highly prized single malt housed in a ground-breaking magnum-sized, 1.5 litre, hand-blown glass.
A new auction record was achieved when Brora Iris 50 Year Old 1972, the oldest Brora single malt that has ever been bottled, presented in a 1.5 litre decanter and suspended within an imposing one-of-a-kind handcrafted stone sculpture, sold for £400,000 / $483,080 (est. £200,000-400,000).
From the Glen Grant Distillery, The Visionary – an exceptional one-of-a-kind creation presented in a singular hand blown battuto-cut magnum decanter and one of the oldest whiskies to be released by the distillery – more than doubled its high estimate, selling for £212,500 / $256,636 (est. £50,000-90,000), establishing a record for a bottle of The Glen Grant at auction.
An auction record was achieved for The Glenturret when The Glenturret Enduring Spirit – four Lalique crystal decanters, each containing liquid to celebrate a century of The Glenturret’s existence, contained in a handmade, Method Studio trunk – tripled its estimate, to bring £125,000 / $150,962 (est. £40,00080,000).
The Gordon & MacPhail Recollection Showcase, featuring five uniquely engraved Glencairn decanters each containing an extremely rare one-off 70cl single malt from a distillery that has been lost or silent for decades, brought £93,750 / $113,222 (est. £80,000-160,000).
Old Pulteney Bow Wave 45 Year Old, the oldest expression released to date from Old Pulteney Distillery, more than doubled its pre-sale high estimate, selling for £68,750 / $83,029 (est. £20,000-30,000).
