News & Insights

High Spirits

10th October 2017.

In Tennants’ sale of Fine Wine and Whisky on the 7th October, it was the spirits that dominated and in particular that most sought-after ‘water of life’ - Macallan. Macallan has been rocketing in value over recent years, and this sale saw the trend continue; the relative rarity of the whisky combined with a growing interest from the Chinese market and investors keeps prices on the rise.

The top lot of this sale was a bottle of Macallan Bonded 1954, which sold online for a confident £3,800 whilst a bottle of Macallan Bonded 1961 sold for £2,700. Of note too, were two bottles of Macallan Private Eye – a special edition of 5000 bottles, which were released in 1996 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the legendary satirical magazine Private Eye, from a vatting that included a cask of 1961 Macallan, the year of the magazine’s first publication. The distinctive label was designed by Private Eye illustrator Ralph Steadman. Both bottles exceeded their £1,500-2,000 estimates to sell for £2,200 and £2,300.

A bottle of L Garnier Green Chartreuse (c.1900) was the subject of fierce bidding – smashing the modest £200-300 estimate to achieve a hammer price of £3,000. First produced by the monks of the Grande Chartreuse monastery in the Grenoble region of France in the early 18th century, Chartreuse is one of only a handful of liquors that continue to age and improve in the bottle.

Rum is undergoing a resurgence in the burgeoning craft spirits market, and a demijohn of what was presumed Rum caught the eye of bidders too; wax-sealed and encased in a wicker outer, this mysterious bottle sold for £1,600.

High prices for spirits combined with good, strong results for Fine Wine resulted in a total Hammer Price of £115,545, with 98.5% of the 345 lots sold.

We are currently accepting lots for the next sale of Fine Wine and Whisky on 16th December, please contact us on 01969 623780 or enquiry@tennants-ltd.co.uk for details.