Iconic record-breaking whisky auctions

The demand for rare whiskies at auction in 2019 is a tale of two halves, according to Rare Whisky 101 (RW101). In RW101’s Rare Whisky Report 2019, the first half of the year saw “vast supply on the auction market. In our opinion, oversupply.” By the latter half of the year, RW101 said supplies remained high, “but consistent”, allowing demand to catch up and “ultimately exceed supply”.

Looking at the UK, RW101 reported that the number of bottles of single malt Scotch sold at auction in 2019 grew by 33.37% compared to the previous year, reaching 143,895 bottles. In value terms, the growth was even greater, soaring by 41.54% to a ‘record high’ of £57,707,707.

The Macallan Scotch whisky has made a global name for itself at auction, setting numerous world records and then beating its own achievements. According to RW101’s report, The Macallan had the greatest market share of volume last year, measured according to each distillery’s percentage of market share on the number of bottles sold at auction in the UK over the course of 2019.

But auction houses have also reported record-breaking success in Asia and the US, and it’s not just Scotch setting the bar high. Japanese whisky continues to be an increasingly sought-after product, and we’ve even seen newer releases from Irish whiskey producers set their own records.