LIQUID GOLD

The rewarding world of collecting whiskey, whether for investment or sheer enjoyment

- JARED PAUL STERN

Last October the $1.9 million sale of a bottle of The Macallan single malt Scotch distilled in 1926—the highest price ever paid at auction for a bottle of spirit—made even those who never touch the stuff it up and take notice. At 700ml, it contains about 45 pours, making each dram worth around $42,000. Martin Green, Whisky Specialist for the storied Bonhams auction house in Edinburgh, Scotland, and one of the world’s foremost experts, was, however, hardly surprised.

“For the past two years, Scotch whisky has been making headlines around the world as never before,” Green tells us. “Records have tumbled at such a pace that, at one point, Bonhams broke the world record for a bottle of whisky at auction twice in the same sale,” in Hong Kong in May 2018—both of them also Macallans from 1926.

Partly in response to these very high prices, “the recently published 2020 Wealth Report by Knight Frank Luxury Index shows that whisky had risen in value by 564% in the past decade,” Green notes. The million-dollar bottles of Macallan “need to be seen in perspective,” he opines. “They are the exception, not the rule. That said, there is plenty of hard evidence that the most desirable whiskies from the most sought - after distilleries have enjoyed strong growth in value at auction over the past ten years or so.”