Records tumble as distillers raise £250k for charity

The evening opened with Sir Jackie Stewart, OBE, recounting Scotch whisky highlights from his life, and offering the first lot from his personal cellar – a bottle of 1993 Jim Clark Festival pure malt whisky selling for £1,500. This opening lot set the tone for the evening, with David Ellswood, Christie’s international director of wine, leading the room into an excitement of bidding that ensured all 55 lots were sold, and the evening raising a total of in excess of £250,000.

Records achieved last night were:

• The Bowmore 1964 48 Years Old, created specifically for the Auction, sold for £61,000 and was:
  • 2013’s most expensive bottle of whisky auctioned in the year
  • The second most expensive bottle of whisky ever sold at live auction in history
  • The most expensive Bowmore ever sold at live auction

• The Dalmore 1964 One of One, created specifically for the Auction, and which sold for £28,000, is the most expensive Dalmore ever sold at live auction and the second most expensive bottle of whisky auctioned in 2013

Other notable lots were:

• The Hazelwood set comprising bottlings released to celebrate Janet Sheed Robert's 90th, 100th, 105th and 110th birthdays sold for £31,000.
• The Johnnie Walker Director's Blend Series, comprising the entire set of six unavailable bottlings sold for £23,000 to a telephone bidder
• The most expensive Glenury-Royal ever auctioned at £2,600.  
• The most expensive bottle of Bladnoch ever auctioned at £1,100

All proceeds from the evening, organised by The Worshipful Company of Distillers, will be distributed to four charities: The Benevolent, Trelya, Alcohol Education Trust and The Distillers’ Charity.

18 October 2013 - Damian Riley-Smith TheDrinksReport.com