A very rare bottle of 43-year-old White Bowmore 1964 whisky was auctioned for £12,200 ($15,260) at Bonhams. Find out more here.
Rare whisky auctions never cease to amaze. Specialists, tasters and collectors bid last week for the auction of a bottle of White Bowmore 1964 whisky. The latter was estimated at between £10,000 and £13,000. The sale was concluded halfway through with a final price of GBP 12 200.
This edition is part of a batch of 732 bottles, this being the 216th. The whisky in the bottle matured in three bourbon casks and is known as White Bourbon because of its ‘unusually light colour’. Its tasting notes range from tropical fruit aromas to notes of pine, vanilla and honey on the palate.
The auction was in fact a first for Bonhams. They recently released the “live behind closed doors” selling mode. A distance sale due to security measures taken by the coronavirus covid-19. Martin Green, whisky specialist for Bonhams said: “It was motivating to see such a lively bidding with the new format (…) to counteract the challenges imposed by the current situation. It’s clear that the appetite for whisky hasn’t died down.”
Bowmore is a distillery established in 1779, the first in Islay, which produces a unique collection of malt whiskies. In February, the most expensive whisky auction in history took place. A bottle of Black Bowmore 1964, worth approximately £17,000, was auctioned off from the collection.
The liquid gold
Scotch whisky has become the “liquid gold”, one of the most coveted products for investment and sale in recent years. Rare Whisky 101 indicated that sales of whisky bottles are increasing year on year. For example, 143,895 bottles were sold in 2019, which is 33.37% more than in 2018.
The most expensive bottle of Scotch whisky is the 1926 Macallan Fine and Rare, whose auction price was $1.9 million.
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