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Macallan 1990 cask fetches US$230,000
A single cask of The Macallan Scotch whisky filled in 1990 has fetched HK$1.8 million (US$231,736) at auction in Hong Kong.
The sale of whisky casks at auction is becoming increasingly popular
The cask sold on 27 February during Dragon 8’s Hong Kong Whisky Auction, which generated more than HK$15 million in sales and saw 96.8% of lots sold. Four other whisky casks were purchased, but The Macallan 1990 fetched the highest price.
In addition, an “exceedingly rare” vertical collection of 32 The Macallan 18-year-old Gold Label bottles (pictured below), dated from 1954 to 1985, sold for HK$840,000.
Meanwhile, a collection of Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection Ultra Set featuring four decanters containing 63-year-old Mortlach, 62-year-old The Glenlivet, 61-year-old Linkwood and 57-year-old Strathisla Scotch whisky, fetched HK$264,000.
A six-strong collection of Spingbank aged between 25- and 50-years was sold for HK$156,000, while bottles of Bowmore, Glen Grant and Glenfarclas whiskies also fetched between HK$84,000 and HK$132,000.
“Bidders really recognised the quality and uniqueness of the Gordon & MacPhail Collections that were on offer, so there was heated bidding for those lots,” said Lempert‐Schwarz, founder of Dragon 8.
“All Macallan lots were ultra‐popular, as we assumed they would be. But there was a real demand for some of the smaller, increasingly collectible names, including Strathisla, Springbank, Linkwood and Mortlach. With the exception of some of the smaller Laphroaig offerings, there was solid demand for our Scottish and Japanese whisky lots.”
In 2014, a 24-year-old cask of The Macallan Scotch whisky smashed its presale estimate to fetch HK$1.952m at a Spink auction in Hong Kong. The first cask of whisky sold at public auction – another Macallan – fetched HK$793,000 three months previous.
Last month, investment specialists at Rare Whisky 101 (RW101) expressed “worry” over the increased numbers of inexperienced investors buying casks of unaged whisky.