Guide to expensive whisky
From the most expensive bottle of whisky ever sold to auctions and Japanese whisky, this is your guide to the world of the priciest drams.
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Is whisky expensive? Well, it can be, as you’ve probably noticed. But why is that? In our handy little guide to the pricier side of the drink we love, we explain what drives the price of whisky, why the likes of The Macallan fetch the big bucks, and recommend some tip-top drams.
What makes a whisky expensive?
There’s a lot of factors that can drive up the price of whisky. But the holy triumvirate of reasons has to be if the whisky is old, rare, and collectible.
An old whisky can mean one of two things: a whisky matured for a long time before it was bottled, or a whisky that was bottled a long time ago. A high age statement, like 25 Year Old and above, will cost a fair bit of money. As will anything bottled before the ‘90s, with the price increasing the further back you go.
Why old whisky is expensive comes down to a few factors: the cost the distillery takes on not releasing the whisky for so many years to the angel’s share, meaning the evaporation of alcohol into the atmosphere over time so distilleries literally have less whisky the longer they keep it. Older whisky is also rarer than younger whisky, and, most importantly, over all that time it will have developed a lot of flavour and character. What drives the cost of whisky bottled a long time is that what you're buying is a drop of liquid history, frozen in time.
There are many factors that make a whisky expensive
Limited edition whiskies
As for the rare and collectible side of things, anything limited edition will generally cost more than your average bottle too. Like with most products, if it’s hard to get or limited in supply, it will cost more. Bottles from silent distilleries, like Littlemill or Caperdonich, are costly because those whiskies will never be made again. It’s something you could term the Port Ellen effect, an Islay distillery that closed and its whisky became incredibly popular after, soaring in prestige and, with it, price. Although Port Ellen is reopening, bottles from the original period will command a certain reverence and with it, a premium price.
The same goes for novelty and uniqueness. If it’s a really interesting whisky for whatever reason, say it’s signed by a master distiller or Frank Sinatra gave the bottle to a doorman as a tip, that will raise the price tag. Whisky from a new distillery can command a good price too. In 2020 Highland distillery Nc’Nean, founded in 2013, broke world records when bottle number one of its Ainnir single malt sold for £41,004 during an online auction.
How the whisky is made will also impact the cost. An expensive cask, like say Japanese Mizunara oak, will add to the price of the whisky. As will bottling it at cask strength – bottled directly from the cask with no water added – or using locally supplied grain rather than sourcing from a cheaper bulk supplier. Then there’s the cost that goes into production, like energy, distribution, tax, and expensive packaging.
A survey that polled the members of the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) found that a majority of distillers were in the same boat as the rest of us, facing soaring energy costs from 2021. Additionally, 40% of those businesses surveyed said that shipping costs had doubled in 2022, and 43% also reported supply chain cost rises of more than 50%.
The value of Japanese whisky like Yamazaki has increased exponentially over the years
Why is Japanese whisky so expensive?
Whisky is no less insulated from market forces than any other product and a bit of classic supply and demand will affect price. Take Japanese whisky. It was enjoyed domestically for decades up until the 1980s. Then shochu, a light, rice-based spirit, started to rule the roost and whisky fell out of favour. Many distilleries like Karuizawa closed, brands died, and the market moved on.
Slowly but surely, however, the rest of the world was waking up to the deliciousness of Japanese whisky. By the turn of the 21st century, whiskies like Yamazaki 12 Year Old and Hibiki 30 Year Old were scooping up a plethora of awards. Suntory’s Yamazaki achieved rapid growth after the Sherry Cask 2013 won the coveted Best Whisky Award in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2015 (demonstrating that whisky writers can affect the cost of a whisky with a glowing review).
Everyone wanted a bit of Japanese whisky. The problem? Production had been hugely reined in and there wasn’t enough to meet demand. This issue snowballed to the point distilleries simply couldn’t keep producing age-statement products anymore. In May 2018, Beam Suntory announced it would have to stop selling Hibiki 17 Year Old and Hakushu 12 Year Old. “At the moment, demand outweighs supply, making continued sale difficult,” a spokesperson summed up. And when supply falls, demand isn’t the only thing to rise: prices do, too. Now distilleries are opening up and in commission all over Japan, so the dial should move back slowly.
The Macallan Fine & Rare 1926 60-year-old, the most expensive whisky ever sold
Whisky on the secondary market
The secondary market is where you often see the effect of prices, with people buying whisky they know will be in-demand in and then flipping them at a higher cost in auctions, a bit like tickets for Taylor Swift concerts (any spares?). But it can be a cyclical market too, the more money a whisky sells for on the secondary market, the more money it will make in the future as people want to cash in on its auctionalibity (yes, I made that word up, but it works). In this way, auctions can dictate price and collectability. As with classic cars, wine, and art, whisky is a product that thrives on the secondary market with a booming asset price that is linked to low interest rates. People with money are always looking for a return.
The Macallan reigns supreme in the secondary market, with big Islay whisky brands and the likes of The Dalmore, Springbank, and The Balvenie also representing big names. This demonstrates too how brand name has an effect. The answer to what is the most expensive bottle of whisky is, at the time of writing, The Macallan Fine & Rare 1926 60-year-old, which set a world record in 2019 for a single bottle by fetching £1.5 million at auction. Great for the distillery, and those that can afford it. Maybe not so great for the wider market.
If you compare that price to the most expensive Johnnie Walker whisky, which right now could well be Johnnie Walker & Sons Diamond Jubilee whisky, currently selling in secondary market for upwards of £250,000, you might find yourself wondering why single malt whisky is so expensive. Blends have more potentially complex recipes and whisky from a wide range of distilleries, but they also don’t have the same prestige as single malt, in particular single malt Scotch whisky, which usually dominates the higher end of the secondary market as a spirit type.
This cask of 46-year-old Ardbeg single malt sold for £16 million
Does expensive whisky taste better?
Interestingly, extensive international pricing research from industry magazine Just Drinks shows that, when adjusted for inflation, few brands have set price increases in real terms between January 2019 and April 2022. Some brands like our old mate The Macallan as well as Wild Turkey and Ardbeg do outstrip cost-of-living increases. But most other brands have moved more modestly. In relative terms, that means some have got cheaper. Not that it feels like it. With inflation rampant, it’s worth knowing that there are bargains and good value to be found out there too.
When it comes to expensive whisky, it’s important to note that price does not equal quality. Neither does age or prestige. None of the above means much if a whisky isn’t to your taste. Ultimately that’s what whisky is about, and taste is subjective. We can speak from experience when we say we’ve had old, ultra-rare whisky (40-year-old + single malt) that just wasn’t very good (usually because they spent too long in the cask, maturation really is an art form).
Anyway, below are some good examples of expensive whiskies. Most are very old, rare, and collectible. Some are from closed distilleries, others have unique and expensive production processes. Each has an eye-popping price tag. If you can afford the below, however, each and everyone is a hell of a whisky. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, and we hope you’ve enjoyed our guide to expensive whisky.
Check out these remarkable whiskies
Eight excellent but expensive whiskies
Glen Grant 1948 (cask 1365) King Charles III Coronation Release (Gordon & MacPhail) Whisky - £31,299.95
Released to mark the coronation of King Charles III, this single malt Scotch Gordon & MacPhail's Private Collection was distilled at Glen Grant all the way back in 1948. That’s the year His Majesty was born and the whisky has spent seven decades maturing in a sherry cask. Remarkably, after all that time it still had a hearty cask strength of 50.4% ABV when it was bottled in 2022, on 15 December, 74 years to the day after His Majesty's christening.
Port Ellen 40 Year Old - Untold Stories Series Whisky - £8,699.95
We’ve already spoken about Port Ellen and here you have the proof. From the Untold Stories Series, this 40 year old single malt from the legendary closed distillery on the south coast of Islay was drawn from nine casks that were deemed rogue.
Talisker 43 Year Old - Xpedition Oak Whisky - £4,099.95
Talisker 43 Year Old - Xpedition Oak Whisky has an intriguing story. It was finished in casks featuring staves that adventurer James Aiken took on a 3,264-mile journey across the Atlantic aboard his boat, The Oaken Yarn. They were then returned to Scotland to become casks and finish this very expression, which is also a staggering 43-years-old.
Dalmore 45 Year Old 1966 (cask 7) - Constellation Collection Whisky - £37,999.95
An incredible 45-year-old expression from Dalmore's Constellation Collection. It was aged in an American white oak bourbon cask for a massive 37 years initially – but that wasn’t enough for the Dalmore team, so they moved it over to a Matusalem oloroso sherry cask for six years and then finally two more years in a bourbon barrel.
Springbank 1996 (cask 567) - Samaroli Magnifico Whisky - £6,999.95
Springbank is one of those brand names that holds a huge amount of weight in the whisky world. People love and respect the distillery so much that it’s very difficult to get your hands on Springbank whisky, but the also beloved Samaroli managed to here. This is also a single cask expression.
Karuizawa 19 Year Old 1998 Single Cask (Master of Malt) Whisky - £3,499.95
Another distillery we mentioned before, Karuizawa is sadly long gone (the old site was demolished, but there is a new Karuizawa in the works) so it's a rare thing to find a drop of Karuizawa. We, however, did manage to get some, a single cask expression distilled in 1998 which spent 19 years maturing in a sherry hogshead. There were just 15 bottles of this one.
Midleton 47 Year Old - Very Rare Silent Distillery Collection Chapter Three Whiskey - £49,599.95
Woof, that’s some price tag. Not surprising from Ireland’s Midleton Distillery (home of Jameson, Redbreast, and more), however, when you know the story. This is made up of some of the last surviving casks distilled in the gigantic direct-fired pot stills at the Old Midleton Distillery in Cork. Ultra rare stuff, with only 97 individually numbered Waterford crystal decanters produced.
Glenfarclas Family Cask Trunk Whisky - £150,599.95
The most expensive product we stock is not just one whisky, but 50. To be precise, every vintage was made by Speyside Glenfarclas distillery between 1954 and 2003. The Glenfarclas Family Cask Trunk Whisky is an astonishing product, one that comprises of a custom-made trunk modelled on old shipping luggage that’s jam-packed extras like a replica of the oldest known painting of the distillery (the original from 1791 hangs in the Glenfarclas private dining room); four slate coasters; and three hand-printed and bound leather books - one with tasting notes for each vintage from George Grant, another for your own tasting notes, and one with information on the history of the distillery.
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