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Sotheby’s to grow spirits selection as whisky sales soar

Auction house Sotheby’s is planning to expand its spirits offering after witnessing “extraordinary growth” in whisky sales.

Sotheby’s has given The Macallan Peter Blake 1926 its highest ever estimate for a single bottle of wine or whisky

The news comes as the New York branch of Sotheby’s gears up to sell a bottle of The Macallan Peter Blake 1926 60-year-old, which carries the auction house’s highest ever estimate for a bottle of wine or whisky, at US$700,000-US$1.2m. The sale will take place on 12-13 October.

In May this year, Bonhams Hong Kong sold a bottle of the same expression, of which only 12 were released, for US$1,014,422. In the same sale, a bottle of The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60-year-old broke the world record for the most expensive whisky sold at auction after fetching US$1,100,197.

Jamie Ritchie, worldwide head of Sotheby’s Wine, said: “The whisky business has been showing extraordinary growth and we will be expanding our offering of spirits in the future. This season has a wine or spirit for every taste and price point.”

For the first half of this year, Sotheby’s wine division has reported “record-breaking” sales of US$57m.

The segment, which also includes spirits, is expected to achieve sales of US$25m in its upcoming autumn auction programme, which Ritchie said will showcase Sotheby’s “strongest and most diverse range of wine sales”.

Sotheby’s Wine recorded total sales of US$64m in 2017.

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