In a Robust Yet Volatile Collectible Whisky Market, a Decanter of The Macallan Scotch Is Selling for Over $120,000
The Macallan released an expression housed in a bespoke Lalique glass decanter. (Photo: Nickolls and Perks)
On Jan. 12, Birmingham World reported a rare expression from the scotch whisky maker The Macallan and the luxury French glassmaker Lalique is up for sale from Nickolls and Perks for a price of £102,000 ($129,561).
According to Birmingham World, this starting price reflects a significant increase from the more “modest” price a similar expression of Macallan sold for approximately nine years ago: £15,500 ($19,688).
“Whisky is becoming incredibly popular, particularly the limited editions and some are high-end,” Events Manager Tim Robbins said, according to Birmingham World.
Birmingham World claims just 420 decanters containing the 55-year-old expression of Macallan were produced.
The decanter was created by Lalique, an artisan glass blower from Alsace, France. The glass producer has created multiple decanters for scotch whisky producers, including The Glenturret.
The decanter was inspired by a Paquerettes tiara perfume bottle, which Nickolls and Perks considers to be a Lalique “classic” on the lot listing.
“Most of those have been drunk,” the outlet reported.
Forecasting the Collectible Whisky Market in 2024… a Bumpy Ride?
Even though Birmingham World reports the collector’s whisky market is robust, other outlets beg to differ.
On Friday, Men’s Journal voiced its opinion that the collectible whisky bubble has already burst.
“In 2023, traditional markets experienced a resounding recovery, while collectible markets suffered a continued decline that spread across nearly every sector,” Men’s Journal wrote, citing a report from the collectible data and analytics company, Atlan Insights.
Men’s Journal cited that the Rare Whisky Icon 100 Index reported a 22% drop from May 2022 to November 2023.
Yet despite this drop, the most expensive wine or spirit ever sold broke records in November: The Macallan Adami Bottle. The scotch sold for a whopping $2.7 million.
Perhaps, the drop reported by the Rare Whisky Icon 100 Index was just an example of category fatigue, as luxury scotches are fairly saturated within the collector’s space.
Proof supporting this claim came in on January 12, when a bottle of The Craft Irish Whiskey sold for an eye-watering $2.8 million.
This tops the Macallan’s record for the most expensive wine or spirit ever sold.
Irish whiskey is a category experiencing meteoric growth, and it is expected to reach a value of $7.5 billion by 2028 according to an investment report from IMARC Group.
“The rebirth of Irish whiskey is relatively new, so I feel like I’m getting in on the ground floor,” said the American whiskey collector who purchased the expression, Mike Daley. “Luxury scotch, to me, is already a crowded type of market. But we’re only just starting to see luxury Irish make a name for itself. I guarantee you that in years to come, it will get to where scotch is today.”
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