What’s it like curating a multi-million-pound whisky auction?
On The Spirits Business Podcast this week, we’re chatting to Beanie Espey, managing director of The Distillers One of One, about what goes into creating one of the world’s rarest whisky auctions, where all proceeds go to charity.
Since its launch in 2021, The Distillers One of One charity auction has raised £4.3 million (US£5.25m) to support the Youth Action Fund. The charity provides long-term opportunities to disadvantaged young people across Scotland – and has made an impact on more than 3,300 young people to date. This support extends to education, employment, mentorships, and developing life skills.
When Beanie Espey was appointed managing director of The Distillers’ Charity, which organises The Distillers One of One auction, it was a dream opportunity to put her passion and expertise in wine and spirits with the chance to create meaningful change.
The opportunity presented itself at just the right time for Espey, who was “in the process of winding up the Sherry business” she had founded at the unfortunate intersection of the Covid-19 pandemic, which she also speaks openly about during the latest episode of The Spirits Business Podcast.
“I took a long, hard look at what I wanted to do in this next chapter,” Espey explained on the podcast. “The thing that I was very clear about was that I wanted to stay in drinks, that I wanted to try and really leverage my luxury experience, which had been cultivated at The Last Drop [Distillers], and prior to that at L’Oréal and at Chanel.
“But I also wanted to do something that had a purpose and would potentially make a social impact. So, you can imagine my glee when I suddenly heard about this new role that was being created at The Distillers’ Charity to essentially run fundraising for the charity and focus on The Distillers One of One auction.”
The third iteration of the biennial auction will take place on 10 October 2025 at Hopeturn House near Edinburgh, Scotland, in partnership with Sotheby’s.
The auction will offer 40 rare lots from 36 Scotch whisky distilleries – all items that will not be repeated and are truly ‘one of one’. The entirety of the hammer price will be donated to charity.
‘Staggering’ results
This year’s lots include The Glen Grant Eternal 77 Years Old, The Glenlivet Spira (a single malt presented in a ‘spira’ decanter, ‘spira’ meaning ‘spiral’ in Latin), a 53-year-old Aberlour titled The Mouth of the Chattering Burn (the distillery’s oldest single malt to date), and a rare Port Ellen to mark the distillery’s 200th anniversary.
Espey noted about the funds raised in the first two auctions: “£4.3m has been raised in a combined total of about eight hours. That’s quite staggering. That’s also one of the things that makes an auction vehicle’s mechanics so exciting: you have to wait until the day itself to see what’s going to happen.”
She continues to discuss several charities that work collaboratively to support young people across Scotland. This approach allows the charities to ensure each young person who crosses their path gets the most suitable support.
“If a young person comes to one of the charity partners and they think, ‘actually, that person’s needs will be served by working with another charity partner’, there is that sharing of best practice,” Espey said. “That model is quite unique. We have these portfolio charities that all come together to work collaboratively towards this outcome of helping young people, and that’s made possible because of the nature of the funding.
“Each auction, in effect, funds the next three years of charitable giving. That enables the charity partners to know what their budgets are for a fairly long horizon, which enables them to really commit to having the right key workers, the right resources in place to support these young people.”
This episode with Espey also discusses her time managing The Last Drop Distillers, which was co-founded by her father and industry veteran James Espey, what ‘luxury’ means to Espey today, and how Scotch whisky distillers can get involved in future editions of The Distillers One of One auction.
The full episode with Espey is now available to listen to on all major streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. Alternatively, listen for free via the link below and on Acast.
Recent episodes include founders Joyce and Raissa de Haas, the founders of Double Dutch tonics and mixers, Jean-Christophe Coutures, CEO of Stock Spirits Group, and Claire Warner, head of luxury advocacy at Diageo.
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