June Auction Highlights 2019
Welcome to our June Auction Preview! As ever, we have some fantastic drams up for grabs this month, with a range to suit all palates and budgets. Let’s check out a few of the highlights.
The headliner this month has to be Bowmore 1966 50 year old - released at the end of 2017, Cask 5675 was an ex-bourbon hogshead filled the year Eddie McAffer joined the distillery (!) and yielded just 74 bottles. We're thrilled to be offering this magnificent bottle.
Let’s continue with Islay. For starters, there's this mouthwatering Signatory Bowmore 1974 41 year old, but there's also some truly fantastic Ardbegs this month: we’ve got Connoisseurs Choice Ardbeg 1965, a wonderful Cadenhead's Ardbeg 1966, a legendary Douglas Laing Ardbeg 1972 bottled in 2001 and one of the greatest ever Ardbeg OB single casks: The Ardbeg 1976 cask 2392 bottled from a spine-tingling sherry cask for the Ardbeg Committee in 2000.
More Islay Whiskies
We’ve also got some great Bruichladdich's this time, including the fabulous OB Bruichladdich 1964 40 year old, cult favourites Bruichladdich 1986 Blacker Still and Bruichladdich 1992 Black Art, plenty of Octomore including the historic Octomore 1.1 First Edition and this rare Port Charlotte 2003 15yo private bottling. Meanwhile, for Laphroaig fans there’s the rarely-seen Laphroaig 21-year-old bottled for the opening of Heathrow Terminal 5 in 2008, and this wonderful 1-litre ‘Unblended’ 1980s Laphroaig 10-year-old.
New Lagavulin 40-Year-Old
Before we leave Islay, there’s some amazing Lagavulins - check out this incredible quartet from The Syndicate: four sister casks distilled on the same day in 1979 and bottled over the years as a Lagavulin 30-year-old, Lagavulin 35-year-old, Lagavulin 38-year-old and Lagavulin 40-year-old - one of the oldest Lagavulins ever bottled. There’s also The Syndicate’s Lagavulin 1990 25-year-old or, if you prefer, the classic official Lagavulin 25-year-old bottled in 2002 for the Special Releases.
Speysiders
From Speyside, there’s a trio of old bottlings from the perennial favourite, Strathisla. The famous Strathisla 1937 by Gordon & Macphail makes a welcome return, and there’s also the rarer Strathisla Bicentenary 35-year-old and the Strathisla 1948 and 1961 Royal Wedding dram bottled in 1981 for Charles & Dianna.
Staying in Speyside, there’s also some interesting Macallans (of course), including Macallan 1962 25 year old, the classic Macallan 1963 (bottled 1980) and Macallan 1964 (bottled 1982), Macallan Private Eye, the stunning 1990s Macallan 10 year old 100 Proof and this incredibly rare Macallan 1977 18 year old specially commissioned for The Halifax Bank of Scotland’s HQ in The Mound in Edinburgh. We believe this edition was gift stock for staff and clients in the 1990s and was never officially on sale.
Speyside also contributes two more of the absolute standout lots in this month’s sale: first up, the Balvenie 1967 Cask 9908. The sister cask to the famous Balvenie 1967 40 year old from 2008, just 120 bottles of this phenomenal dram were bottled back in 1999, and it’s very rare at auction - we’ve never had it before, so we’re excited about this one.
Secondly, just look at this absolutely phenomenal Gordon & MacPhail Speyside Vintage Collection, featuring full-size bottles of Glenlivet 1948, Glen Grant 1949, Strathisla 1953, Mortlach 1954, Longmorn 1967 and Linkwood 1972 in a beautiful wooden case.
Other Highlights
Other highlights this month include some superb bottlings from the early days of Douglas Laing, including Inchgower 1965-2003, Glendronach 1976-2001, and Glen Albyn 1969-2004 and several great Rare Malts including the Clynelish 1972 22-year-old for USA and the glorious Glenury Royal 1971 23-year-old.
We've also got many old favourites like 1980s Rosebank 8-year-old, Oban Bicentenary Managers Dram, Springbank 1965 Local Barley and some lovely old blends including Ainslie’s King’s Legend, White Horse (1959), the very rare Johnnie Walker Honour and two absolutely beautiful old rarities: a 1960s bottle of Berry Brothers & Rudd's house blend, St. James’s, and this 1941 bottling of Black and White in quite astonishing condition.
Vintage Whisky
Time for another standout highlight from this month’s sale: the exceptionally rare Talisker 1973 28-year-old. This was bottled for Oddbins back in 2001, and just 100 bottles were produced from what was the oldest cask in Diageo's warehouses. There’s another bottle of the marvellous 1970s Talisker 8-year-old as well, plus the excellent, under-appreciated bourbon cask Talisker 1982 20-year-old from the 2003 Special Releases.
For older vintages, check out the Glengoyne 1967, Aberlour 1964, Auchentoshan 1966, Dalmore 1960 25-year-old, Gordon & Macphail St. Magdalene 1966 and this fabulous single cask OB Glenlivet 1968, while dusty hunters will be watching this great Glenfarclas 8-year-old 105 proof bottled in the 1970s and the Glen Grant 25yo, also from the 1970s and therefore distilled no later than the mid-1950s.
World Whiskies
We've a few great whiskies from around the world this month as well, with a great example of the second ever edition of Midleton Very Rare bottled in 1985, the outstanding Wild Turkey Wedgwood crystal decanter and a trio of highly sought-after Yamazakis: Mizunara 2011, Mizunara 2014 and Sherry Cask.
Finally, for great value, there’s the old favourite dumpy bottle Highland Park 12 year old, the Slam Dram 25 year old blend that came out a few years ago for Soma Records’ 25th anniversary, The Infamous 22 year old, a vatted malt reputed to be a mix of Highland Park and Macallan, the excellent Springbank 2001 Rundlets and Kilderkins and the delicious Aberlour A’bunadh Sterling Silver, all of which offer plenty of bang for not too much buck.
Hopefully, that's whetted your appetite... you can check out the full auction for more of what you fancy. Good Luck, and Happy Hunting!