Rare Prototype American Whiskey Collection Nets Nearly $190k At Auction

The hammer fell, and one of the rarest collections of American whiskey ever just sold for nearly $190,000 at Sotheby’s Auction.

The Rare American Whiskey Selection is a very rare and unique set of five prototype bottles, originally produced as the prototypes for a shelved United Distillers collectible American whiskey project in 1997.

A statement from Sotheby’s noted that in the recent auction, three determined bidders battled it out, driving the final sale price to an amount 15 times the pre-sale low estimate.

Representing the rarest American whiskey ever seen at auction, the set was acquired by an American private collector for the final bid price of $187,245 (£150,000).

Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s head of whisky and spirits in North America, said, “This result establishes not only a record price for American whiskey sold at Sotheby’s but it also stands as yet another benchmark in the auction market for collectible US bottles. This is a truly unique collection, the rarest lot of its kind ever to have been offered for sale – the only set in existence and a historic record that glimpses into the potential alternative reality of American whiskey making.”

The bottles were offered as part of a 14-lot sale called the Finest Scotch & The Rarest American Whiskey. The entire lot was 100% sold, achieving an overall total close to $975,900 (£781,780), with nearly two-thirds of the lots selling for prices above their high estimates, Fowle said.

In terms of overall value, leading the sale was actually The Macallan In Lalique Six Pillars Collection, which garnered $624,150 (£500,000).