5 Whiskies To Watch At Auction This Month

The Whisky.Auction May Whisky & Spirits full bottle auction is in full swing with over 1,000 bottles awaiting the bids of eager whisky lovers. There’s some great old blends up for grabs, alongside some rare old scotch and some more recent collector’s favourites too.

The May Whisky & Spirits auction is open for bids now, ending at 19:30 BST Tuesday, 20 May.

A reminder for anyone with bottles gathering dust, Whisky.Auction offers a free valuation service, with the cut-off for bottles arriving for our June auction on Tuesday, 27 May.

Buchanan’s De Luxe Spring Cap Bottled 1950s -1960s

One of our favourite old blended Scotch whiskies at Whisky.Auction, this Buchanan’s De Luxe is sealed with a spring cap or ‘Kork N Seal’ closure. These closures are often highly regarded by collectors for keeping fill levels and helping to preserve the contents of the bottles over the years. They were used only by the Distillers Company Ltd (now Diageo) and on Martell Cognac in the 40s, 50s, and 60s (and in a few cases as early as the 1920s). 

Buchanan’s itself is a lovely old scotch that had the royal seal of approval. The beautiful moulded bottle shows the pride the company took in the whisky, ensuring that label or no label, it could always be identified. 

We expect this bottle to sell for £70 – £120. You can place your bid here.

Bowmore 1957 38 Year Old

Distilled when Bowmore was under the ownership of Inverness whisky merchants William Grigor & Son, by the time it was bottled, 38 years later, Stanley P Morrison had taken charge. 

The whisky had been stored in the famous Number One vault at the Bowmore distillery and had been left to age until it risked tipping under the 40% mark, at which point it was bottled. Bowmore Distillery, especially the number one vault, is well known for producing impressive long-aged whiskies due to the chill, damp microclimate caused by its positioning below the level of Islay sea loch, Loch Indaal.

Our valuation team expects this bottle to reach a hammer price of £4,000 – £5,000. Bid on this scotch whisky gem. 

Johnnie Walker Premier 

For blended whisky lovers looking for a more unusual and rarer dram, this bottle of Johnnie Walker Premier is an excellent addition to a collection. 

Now long discontinued, it was sold during the 1980s and 1990s as a more high-end release from the famous striding man brand. It contains irreplaceable whiskies from long-lost distilleries from the Diageo (and previously DCL) portfolio. 

Blended whisky continues to be a bargain at auction considering its history, and our valuation team expects this bottle to reach a hammer price of £70 – £120. 

Glenfiddich 1976 Private Vintage Cask Number 2433 Concorde Limited Edition

Commemorating Concorde’s first commercial flight in 1976, Glenfiddich launched two single casks, available only to Concorde passengers in the early 2000s. Cask number 2433 was described as ‘particularly intense for an older Glenfiddich, with malt master David Stewart giving it ‘a little water’ and plenty of time to develop ‘the white chocolate notes intrinsic to Glenfiddich of this age’. 

Our valuations team expects this bottle to reach between £1,500 – £2,000. You can bid on the bottle here.

Yoichi 20 Year Old 

Yoichi 20 Year Old was the pinnacle of the regular releases from Nikka’s Yoichi Distillery, originally opened in 1934 by Masataka Taketsuru following his stint training to make scotch whisky in Scotland. At 52%, it’s a powerful, cask strength single malt which became a favourite of even the more staunch scotch drinkers. 

Scarcity drove Yoichi to discontinue its age-statement whiskies in 2015, and while these are gradually trickling back (the 10 Year Old was re-released in 2022), it could be some time longer before a Yoichi 20 Year Old is brought back to retail by the distillery.

Our valuation team expects this bottle to achieve £800 – £1,200. Don’t forget to bid here.