February Auction Highlights 2019
Due to the sheer volume of interesting whiskies in our February auction, we're going to do things a little different this month. Apart from the dedicated Blog about all the Diageo releases in this sale, we will rattle through whiskies bottled during numerous decades as well as individual distilleries and a haul of Islay Festival releases. It's worth mentioning a large proportion of the whiskies featuring in this sale originate from a single collection bought from the late 1970s up until very recently.
Our February auction is bursting with a wealth of whiskies including examples distilled before the War.
Impressive Diageo Whisky Collection
Gordon & MacPhail
We'll kick things off with our favourite independent bottlers, Gordon & MacPhail. We've always been big fans of G&M and in this months sale, there's a wide variety on offer. Starting with a series that doesn't appear in auction as a set very often. A run of whiskies distilled in 1959 & 1960 bottled for the marriage of Andrew and Sarah in 1986. The full set includes Glen Grant, Glendroanch, Linkwood, MacPhails, Mortlach, & Pride Of Strathspey, all of which can be found in this auction as single Lots.
Connoisseurs Choice flood this sale with some amazing examples from their brown label and map label series. Highlights from their brown label's series include a 1966 Kinclaith, 1967 Glencadam, 1968 Glenlochy and a 1969 Prot Ellen. And from their map label series, a 1960 Glenburgie, 1962 Longmorn, 1966 Glenugie and one of several legendary 1972 Brora's.
From their Old Rare series, you will find a 1984 Glenury Royal, 1975 Convalmore and a 1968 Glenlochy. If you're looking for pre-War malts, take a look at the 1938 Mortlach as well as the underrated 1938 handwritten label from Macallan. From G&Ms vintage labels there's a sherried 1956 Glen Grant as well as a 1959 Glen Avon and numerous vintages from the 1960s, 1970s & 1980s.
Cadenhead's
Moving onto Cadenhead's and we have some rare examples from their classic dumpy series. If there's ever a series of whiskies you would want to collect, it has to be the Cadenhead dumpies. There's a good variety of them and their labels are simple yet effective, not to mention the quality of liquid inside. Highlights include a 1964 Banff, 1966 Jura and a 1967 Glen Lochy.
For those who prefer their whiskies at cask strength, I recommend taking a look at Cadenhead's Authentic Collection. These whiskies are generally bottled at a high ABV mostly in the high 50s and low 60s. Highlights in this sale include a 1980 Glenugie, 1981 Strathisla, 1992 Ledaig and a 1993 Ardbeg.
Islay Festival
If you're missing any Islay festival bottles from your collection or looking for examples you've not yet tried, hopefully, we have the ones you're after. From Caol Ila, we have every year from 2009-2018. Lagavulin is the same with every year from 2009 right through to 2018; as well as Jazz bottlings from 2011 to 2017. On to Bowmore and the trend continues, there's every year from 2006 right through to 2018 and a bag full of Hand-fills. You will also come across examples from Ardbeg, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain and Kilchoman.
Highlights through the decades
The oldest single malt in this sale is a Glenfiddich Pure Malt. Over recent years we've seen parcels from the 1950s available but this one from around the 1940s is the earliest example we've come across to date. Another historical whisky that deserves spotlight in a museum.
Moving on several decades and another whisky featuring for the first time in one of our auctions is a Talisker 12-year-old in a very rare 94cl bottle with a short-lived, short screw cap. This was most likley bottled in the very late 1960s, early 1970s and almost never turns up on the market.
From the late 1970s, we have the legendary Bowmore Largiemeanoch. If you're into Bowmore distilled in the 1960s and like thick, fruity, heavily sherried whisky, this should definitely be on your bucket list. A magical whisky that is only getting harder and harder to find.
On to the 1980s and we have more heavily sherried whisky. This time from Springbank. Apart from the one we sold back in 2016, we'd never laid eyes on this one before. Only one can imagine the depths and complexities this whisky has to offer. A true rarity that I'd love to at some point.
MACALLAN
What do we have from Macallan? Well, If you're looking for old Macallan, then you're in the right place. The earliest example is a pre-war relic from 1937, this is one of a handful of mind-blowing whiskies G&M bottled from this period. This, in comparison to the 1938 handwritten label also in this sale, is an absolute no brainer.
Highlighting this sale for Macallan though has to be the run of 18-year-olds from 1966 through to 1995. There's a handful of vintages missing but nevertheless, it is still an impressive line-up. Some say Macallan is just a brand, and I wouldn't completely argue with that statement apart from the fact that these older Macallan made Macallan so famous due to their sheer quality.
