Whisky.Auction Miniatures and Memorabilia auction is live now and ends at 19:30 BST on Tuesday 22 October 2024. The auction is run twice yearly and offers whisky collectors the chance to bid on rare miniatures and fascinating whisky memorabilia.
Miniature bottles are in the DNA of Whisky.Auction, with the company having been founded by one of the most well-known miniature whisky collectors in the UK. In fact, we’re the only whisky auction house to run a regular miniatures and memorabilia sale. This month we have a stunning selection of miniatures alongside some truly beautiful old books and advertising prints all waiting for bids. Here are just a few of the highlights.
Old Orkney Real Liqueur Blended Scotch Whisky, Bottled 1930, 5cl
A little piece of whisky history, this miniature Old Orkney Blended Scotch Whisky was distilled and bottled at ‘Orkney’s third distillery’, Stromness, before it ceased distilling in 1928.
In his famous book ‘The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom’ Alfred Barnard dedicated two pages to Stromness which he described as ‘the most remote distillery in the kingdom’. He described visiting the still house, saying “In the little old-fashioned Still House are to be seen two of the “sma’ old Pot Stills,” each holding 300 gallons. One of these, a veritable smuggler’s Still of a peculiar shape, is the quaintest we have seen in our travels, and was formerly the property of a noted law evader; its body is shaped like a pumpkin.”
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Stromness was ‘modernised’ after acquisition by J&J McConnell Ltd from Ireland in the early 1900s and this little whisky would have been distilled in the last years of the legendary distillery.
The ‘OO’ brand continued to be made until the mid-1930s when the doors were shut for good.
Prices for this rare mini have fluctuated in the past few years making it a particularly hard one to tie down to a value. Past bottles indicate that this will sell for at least £60, although £650 wouldn’t be unheard of! You can place your bids on this miniature here.
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The Macallan Fine & Rare Miniature Collection, 44 bottles, 5cl each
For miniature lovers like the Whisky.Auction team, it doesn’t get much more exciting than a set of beautiful bottles from The Macallan Fine & Rare collection, each in individual wooden presentation boxes.
The Macallan Fine & Rare Collection was launched in 2002 and contains a total of 58 bottles, the newest of which is the recently announced ‘The Macallan Fine & Rare 2000’.
Perhaps the most famous bottle in the collection is The Macallan 1926 60 Year Old Fine & Rare which, until quite recently, held the record for the most expensive bottle of scotch whisky ever sold at auction. The record was broken by a different iteration of The Macallan 1926 60 Year Old: The Valerio Adami edition.
This collection of 44 miniature bottles was distilled between 1937 and 1991 and released to market between 2002 and 2016. Despite not releasing any vintage releases themselves until 1984, The Macallan Distillery team sourced liquid dating back to before the Second World War – no mean feat!
This set would be the jewel in any series mini lover’s whisky collection. It will be sold as one lot, which our valuations team has estimated will attract bids of £250,000+.
Karuizawa 1984 Bottled 2018 – Hong Kong Miniature Liquor Club, 5cl
A little bottle with a lot of air miles, this miniature whisky was distilled in Japan in 1984 before the closure of the now legendary Karuizawa Distillery. It was one of the casks that made its way to the UK, eventually bottled by Elixir Distillers 34 years later in 2018. Just 150 little bottles were made available to members of the Hong Kong Miniature Liquor Club to mark the club’s silver jubilee celebrations. The label was embossed and inlaid with silver foil, and each bottle was numbered to ensure maximum collectibility!
The Hong Kong Miniature Liquor Club was founded in 1993 by Mr Wai Man Chan, a passionate collector of miniature Cognac, who sought to unite miniature collectors who could discuss their findings with like-minded mini lovers. Potential members need to prove that they have collected at least 100 miniatures (photographic evidence is a must) to be allowed to join the community. A most prestigious club indeed.
Our valuations team estimates that this bottle will reach a hammer price of £800-£1,200. You can bid on this mini Karuizawa here.
St Magdalene 1975 SMWS #49, 5cl
This miniature Scotch Malt Whisky Society release from St Magdalene Distillery, also known as Linlithgow, was distilled in February 1975 and bottled by SMWS in February 1975 after 18 years of maturation. A great find for SMWS collectors, this bottle was imported to the Japanese market with a nearly identical sister bottling also created for the UK market – a must to complete the SMWS St Magdalene set!
Our valuation team expects this mini bottle to reach £40-£80.
Book Highlight – ’Whisky’ by Aeneas MacDonald – First Edition
This copy of ‘Whisky’ by Aeneas MacDonald was from the original print run of the first modern book published entirely on the topic of whisky, from the perspective of the drinker.
The writer’s real name was George Malcolm Thomson, but he chose to write under a pseudonym in part to hide the fact the book was published by his own publishing company, Porpoise Press.
If you’re looking for facts about the whisky industry, this might not be the book for you, but for a look into the mind of a whisky fan in the 1930s who had no qualms in voicing his, often rather strong, opinions it’s a great piece of history to get stuck into.
Prices vary for first editions of MacDonald’s book, but we estimate this will reach in excess of £150. You can bid on ‘Whisky’ here.
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