Van Winkle Bourbon Shatters Records With $162,500 Sale at Auction

(Photo: Sotheby’s)

A rare bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle bourbon sold for $162,500 on Friday night at Sotheby’s New York, setting a new record for the most valuable bottle of American whiskey ever sold at auction.

The sale anchored The Great American Whiskey Collection, a single-owner auction that brought in $2.5 million total, making it the most valuable American whiskey collection ever sold and the largest single-owner spirits auction held in New York. The final total more than doubled Sotheby’s low pre-sale estimate of $1.17 million.

The top lot was Old Rip Van Winkle 20 Year Old Single Barrel “Sam’s” from 1982. The bottle had not appeared at auction in more than a decade. It sold well above its $70,000-$100,000 estimate after competitive bidding in the room, online and by phone.

The “Sam’s” release is notable for both its scarcity and high ABV. Only 60 hand-numbered bottles were produced, and it was bottled at 133.4 proof, the highest-proof Van Winkle release on record. The result set a new benchmark for American whiskey at auction.

The auction took place at Sotheby’s new global headquarters in the Breuer Building on Madison Avenue and marked the first live, single-owner American whiskey sale in the company’s history. The collection included 360 bottles, spanning bourbon and rye releases from producers such as Old Rip Van Winkle, Old Fitzgerald and Red Hook Rye.

All lots sold. Nearly 90% exceeded their high estimates. According to Sotheby’s, 96% of buyers were based in North America, reflecting the largely domestic demand for American whiskey. About one-third of bidders were new to the auction house, and more than half were age 40 or younger.

“This sale represents a defining moment for American whiskey at auction, underscoring the legendary status of the Van Winkle name and the extraordinary significance of the ‘Sam’s’ Old Rip Van Winkle,” Sotheby’s whiskey specialist Zev Glesta said in a news release. “The result reflects the continued maturation of the global market for the rarest American whiskeys and a growing appreciation for the craftsmanship, heritage, and rarity that define the very best of American distilling. A bottle of this calibre is not just a collector’s item but a piece of American whiskey history.”

Beyond the record-setting Van Winkle, the auction featured private-label bottlings, exclusive single barrels and historic releases that rarely surface on the open market. Several appeared at auction for the first time and set new records.

Van Winkle 18 Year Old “Binny’s” from 1985 sold for $106,250. Distilled at Stitzel-Weller and bottled at 121.6 proof, fewer than 100 bottles were produced for the Chicago retailer. A Very Very Old Fitzgerald “Blackhawk” 18 Year Old from 1950 sold for $112,500, more than double its low estimate. The private bottling was made exclusively for the Wirtz family and was never sold publicly.

Other notable results included a Van Winkle 18 Year Old Family Reserve bottled for Park Avenue Liquor Shop, which sold for $62,500, and an O.F.C. Bourbon Whiskey 1909 quart bottle that reached $47,500 after bidding from four collectors.

Multiple additional Van Winkle releases, historic rye whiskeys and early bottled-in-bond bourbons exceeded expectations, underscoring continued demand for rare American whiskey despite broader market volatility.

While the prices reached headline levels, the auction also highlighted a shift in who is buying. With younger collectors entering the market and private bottles commanding renewed attention, the results point to a sustained interest in American whiskey as both a collectible and a piece of distilling history.