September Auction Highlights 2026
Every auction has its standout bottles, but this month’s auction offers something particularly special: the opportunity to explore several important chapters in modern Scotch whisky history through the bottles themselves.
From a complete collection of the 1997 Flora & Fauna Cask Strength series and an exceptional selection of Rare Malts, to early Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottlings, lost distilleries, pioneering independent bottlings, a superb range of vintage and experimental Glenmorangie, and a remarkable group charting the revival of Ardbeg, our September auction brings together an extraordinary range of collectable whisky.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
One of the largest collections featured this month comes from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, with more than twenty bottlings spanning some of the Society’s most celebrated distilleries alongside several that have long since disappeared.
Founded in Edinburgh in 1983, the SMWS pioneered an approach that was radically different from conventional whisky bottling at the time: individual casks, bottled at full strength and identified by numerical distillery and cask codes rather than familiar distillery branding. Four decades later, that format has become an established part of the whisky world, making surviving examples from the Society’s earlier years particularly fascinating.
Among the earliest releases in the collection are Glenfarclas 1969 22 Year Old SMWS 1.30, Glen Grant 1980 11 Year Old SMWS 9.5, Convalmore 1982 10 Year Old SMWS 83.2 and Pittyvaich 1976 15 Year Old SMWS 90.3. There is also Strathmill SMWS 100.1 – the very first cask bottled by the Society under distillery code 100.
At the other end of the spectrum is the magnificent Glenfarclas 1966 37 Year Old SMWS 1.117, appropriately titled A Malt For The Study. Distilled in 1966 and bottled in 2004, it is one of four Glenfarclas casks represented amongst the collection and a particularly impressive example of long-aged Society whisky.
Closed distilleries feature heavily throughout the group, with bottles from Convalmore, Glen Albyn, Inverleven, Millburn, Pittyvaich, Rosebank and St Magdalene. Four separate St Magdalene releases alone are represented, alongside two Rosebanks, including the wonderfully named 1990 12 Year Old SMWS 25.25 Rhubarb Rock.
Together, the collection provides a fascinating snapshot of the Society across several decades and of an era when extraordinary single casks from distilleries both famous and obscure could still be discovered by adventurous whisky drinkers.
The Complete Flora & Fauna Cask Strength Collection
Another exceptional group in September’s auction is a complete collection of all nine Flora & Fauna Cask Strength bottlings released in 1997.
The Flora & Fauna series had been created to showcase many of the distilleries within the United Distillers portfolio that otherwise had little or no presence as single malts. While the familiar releases were generally bottled at approachable strengths, this small group took the concept in a very different direction.
The collection comprises Aberfeldy 1980, Aultmore 1983, Blair Athol 1981, Caol Ila 1981, Clynelish 1982, Dailuaine 1980, Linkwood 1983, Mortlach 1980 and Rosebank 1981, all bottled in 1997 at cask strength.
Individually, several have become highly sought-after, particularly the Rosebank and Clynelish, but it is seeing all nine releases together that makes this collection particularly special. They represent a fascinating and relatively short-lived chapter in the history of Flora & Fauna and sit at the intersection between that series and United Distillers’ growing interest in presenting older and more unusual whiskies to enthusiasts at natural strength.
The Rare Malts Selection
That story continues with another of United Distillers’ great projects of the period: the Rare Malts Selection.
Launched during the 1990s, Rare Malts opened the doors to warehouses containing whisky from distilleries that many drinkers had barely encountered as single malts. Vintage dated, generally significantly older than standard releases and bottled at natural cask strength, the series would become one of the most important official ranges of its era.
September’s auction includes six superb examples: Brora 1977 21 Year Old, Caol Ila 1975 20 Year Old, Glen Ord 1974 23 Year Old, Glendullan 1972 23 Year Old, Port Ellen 1978 20 Year Old and St Magdalene 1979 19 Year Old.
The Brora, Port Ellen and St Magdalene are particularly evocative today. All three distilleries had closed by the time these whiskies were released, yet few could have predicted quite how revered their surviving stocks would become.
There are also US-market examples of the Caol Ila 1975 and Glendullan 1972, adding another dimension to an already impressive group.
From Rare Malts to the Special Releases
The transition into the modern era can be seen through four exceptional bottlings from Diageo’s early Special Releases.
At their head is one of the great rarities of the series: Glenury Royal 1953 50 Year Old. Released in 2003 as one of only 498 bottles, it remains an extraordinary official bottling from a Highland distillery that closed in 1985 and was subsequently demolished. At half a century old, it is also by far the oldest single malt ever officially released from Glenury Royal.
Joining it is Glen Elgin 1971 32 Year Old, another 2003 release and one of only 1,500 bottles. It remains the oldest official Glen Elgin ever released.
The Talisker 1981 20 Year Old, released in 2002, offers something altogether more powerful. Matured in sherry casks and bottled at a formidable 62%, it has become one of the most celebrated early Talisker Special Releases.
Finally, the Linlithgow 1973 30 Year Old, released in 2004, brings us back once again to St Magdalene. Released under the historic Linlithgow name, it provides an official counterpoint to the remarkable selection of independent St Magdalene bottlings elsewhere in the auction.
Taken alongside the Flora & Fauna Cask Strength and Rare Malts collections, these bottles chart a fascinating period in which United Distillers and subsequently Diageo increasingly opened their warehouses and began presenting enthusiasts with older, rarer and more individual expressions from across their distillery portfolio.
St Magdalene – A Lost Lowland Distillery
Few distilleries are represented as comprehensively in this month’s auction as St Magdalene.
Closed in 1983, the Linlithgow distillery has become one of the most sought-after of Scotland’s lost Lowland producers. Our September auction provides an unusual opportunity to explore its whisky through bottlings from many of the most important independent bottlers alongside official releases.
The earliest vintage is a Gordon & MacPhail St Magdalene 1965, bottled in 1993 as part of the Connoisseurs Choice range. It is joined by five further Gordon & MacPhail examples, including 1966 and 1981 vintages and a 1982 Rare Old bottling released in 2001.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society contributes four more St Magdalenes, distilled between 1975 and 1982, while Douglas Laing is represented by a 1982 24 Year Old Old Malt Cask.
Cadenhead’s provides another remarkable trio, all from the 1982 vintage but bottled at dramatically different ages: a 14 Year Old released in 1997, a 30 Year Old bottled in 2012 and a 32 Year Old bottled in 2015.
There is also a 1975 Linlithgow bottled by Adelphi, a 1975 St Magdalene from The Dormant Distillery Company, the 1979 Rare Malts release and the official Linlithgow 1973 30 Year Old Special Release.
Seen together, these bottles offer far more than different opportunities to acquire whisky from a closed distillery. They demonstrate how stocks of St Magdalene passed through the hands of official and independent bottlers over several decades, preserving the character of a distillery whose stills fell silent more than forty years ago.
Ardbeg – The Path to Peaty Maturity
Another of this month’s most compelling groups tells a very different story: not the disappearance of a distillery, but its rebirth.
When Glenmorangie acquired Ardbeg in 1997, the Islay distillery had endured years of uncertainty and intermittent production. Restoring Ardbeg required not only rebuilding the distillery but rebuilding stocks of mature whisky.
September’s auction charts that journey through a superb group of releases from the period.
The Ardbeg 17 Year Old takes us back to the beginning of the revival, when the newly resurrected distillery was dependent on whisky produced before Ardbeg’s lengthy period of closure and intermittent production. Alongside it is an early Introducing Ten Years Old, representing the emergence of what would become the cornerstone of the modern Ardbeg range.
But the centrepiece is the complete four-part Path to Peaty Maturity series.
Beginning with Very Young, distilled in 1998 and released in 2004, enthusiasts were invited to follow the development of spirit produced after Ardbeg returned to full production. Still Young followed in 2006 and Almost There in 2007 before the journey culminated with Renaissance in 2008, when that new-generation Ardbeg finally reached ten years old.
It was an ingenious way of allowing whisky drinkers to follow the maturation of a distillery almost in real time, and today the complete sequence provides a fascinating record of one of Scotch whisky’s great modern revivals.
An early 2004 release of Ardbeg Uigeadail and the enormous 4.5-litre first edition of Ardbeg Mor from 2007 complete an exceptional group from this pivotal period in the distillery’s history.
Glenmorangie – Pioneers of Wood Maturation
Glenmorangie is particularly well represented this month, with an excellent selection of vintage releases and experimental wood finishes from one of the most creative periods in the distillery’s modern history.
Among the highlights are the 1971 released for Glenmorangie’s 150th anniversary, the 1974 Duty Free Exclusive and 1974 Original Maltings, alongside the superb 1977 21 Year Old. There is also the 1975 vintage bottled in 2000 after secondary maturation in Côte de Nuits Grand Cru Burgundy casks.
Perhaps most interesting is the range of early wood finishes. Glenmorangie was one of the pioneers of finishing single malt in casks that had previously held different wines and fortified wines, and the auction includes examples of the Port, Fino Sherry, Claret and Côte de Beaune Wood Finishes. The increasingly scarce second release of the Port Wood Finish is a particular highlight.
Also featured is the excellent Glenmorangie 1981 20 Year Old, bottled in 2002 after a two-year finish in casks from Château d’Yquem, alongside the limited 1991 Missouri Oak Reserve. Together, these bottles provide a fascinating snapshot of a period when Glenmorangie was experimenting extensively with oak and maturation, helping to popularise an approach that would become commonplace throughout the Scotch whisky industry.
Signatory Vintage and the Independent Bottlers
Independent bottlers are represented throughout the auction, with Signatory Vintage contributing another excellent selection of single casks.
Among the standouts is a Ben Nevis 1963 33 Year Old from single cask 1587, alongside a Port Ellen 1975 23 Year Old from cask 1758.
Two Millennium Editions – Highland Park 1988 10 Year Old and Rosebank 1990 9 Year Old – capture Signatory at the end of the 1990s, while a particularly unusual Springbank 1993 was bottled from single cask 600R for the Open Championship in 2000.
Gordon & MacPhail is similarly well represented, although this month its bottles tell a rather different story from the remarkable pre-war releases featured in our previous auction. Our September selection is dominated by whiskies from lost distilleries, including Dallas Dhu, Glen Albyn, Glen Mhor, Glenesk, Inverleven, Millburn, Mosstowie, North Port-Brechin, Port Ellen and, of course, St Magdalene.
Among them are a Millburn 1971, Mosstowie 1975, Port Ellen 1979 and North Port-Brechin 1970, alongside an impressive Glendronach 1962.
Elsewhere, a trio of First Cask single casks from Glenallachie, Macduff and Tamnavulin sits alongside a Caol Ila 1975 22 Year Old from Hart Brothers and the St Magdalene and Linlithgow releases from The Dormant Distillery Company and Adelphi.
Together they demonstrate just how important independent bottlers have been in preserving whisky from distilleries, vintages and periods that might otherwise have disappeared almost entirely.
A Few More Highlights
Beyond the larger collections are several individual bottles worthy of attention.
A rare Highland Park 20 Year Old released for the 20th anniversary of Ian Rankin’s Rebus is one of just 150 bottles drawn from single cask 3272, while Springbank is represented by the impressive 25 Year Old Millennium Edition released in 1998.
There is also the first release in Glendronach’s prestigious Grandeur series, a 31 Year Old bottled in 2010, alongside an unusual Ben Nevis 1972 21 Year Old presented in a Glencairn crystal decanter and a Glen Mhor 1969 bottled by Campbell & Clark from casks 1407 and 1409.
Macallan collectors will find an unusual 1970s 10 Year Old bottled by Hall & Bramley, dating from the period when a number of UK merchants and distributors were licensed to bottle and release semi-official Macallan.
Moving beyond Scotch, one of the most fascinating bottles in the auction is a 1960s half bottle of John Jameson & Sons Redbreast 12 Year Old, bottled by Gilbey’s. Dating from the era when Redbreast was still produced using traditional pot still whiskey distilled at Jameson’s famous Bow Street distillery in Dublin, it is a wonderful survivor from an entirely different period in Irish whiskey history.
And for rum collectors, there is Havana Club Máximo Extra Añejo, one of Havana Club’s most prestigious releases, presented in a crystal decanter.
An Auction Spanning Generations
What makes our September auction particularly interesting is not simply the rarity of individual bottles, but the stories that emerge when they are viewed together.
These are just some of our highlights from an exceptionally varied catalogue. From lost distilleries and early single-cask releases to modern classics and complete collections, there is plenty more to discover throughout our September auction.
Head over to the full auction catalogue to explore the sale and discover the rest of this month’s bottles.