If the first three months of the year brought hope for whisky collectors, April offered little more than a cold dose of reality.
There had been tentative signs that the auction market was turning around, but as our friends at Whiskystats report six-year lows for its Scotch Index, we end the month knowing that we’ve not hit rock bottom just yet.
The month was defined by a reminder that age is not everything when it comes to Scotch. Gordon & MacPhail’s Artistry in Oak (85 years old) and The Macallan Reach (81 years old) went under the hammer, with the former failing to sell and the latter racking up big losses compared to previous years.
Artistry in Oak was only released in October at an RRP of £125,000 ($168,000). While Gordon & MacPhail successfully sold all 125 decanters, it seems one buyer is ready to cash in already. The decanter reached a price of £74,000 ($100,000) during Whisky Auctioneer’s April auction, but did not reach reserve.
The Macallan Reach did sell for a price of £67,750 ($91,500). Factoring in commission, taxes and delivery, the new owner will pay just under £100,000 ($135,000) for their 81-year-old whisky. That is around the original price set by the distillery when it was released in 2022, but significantly less than the £490,000 / $605,100 paid by one person at a 2023 Sotheby’s auction. It’s also significantly cheaper than this bottle currently available at Hedonism.
The buyer will probably admit they got a bit too excited during that auction, as did the owner of the Old Pulteney Bow Wave. Originally bought at the Distillers One of One auction in October 2023, we spotted the ornate bottle had failed to sell in March with a bid of £30,000 ($40,000). It was back up for sale at Grand Whisky Auction in April, but this time reached a paltry £16,000 ($21,000) and, somewhat unsurprisingly, failed to meet reserve.
We were also interested to see a bottle of The Glenlivet Twelve Elements sell at Whisky.Auction. When this series launched, it offered 12 one-of-one bottles of 50-year-old Glenlivet. Each one unique, each one £35,000 ($40,000). That was early 2024, and nine of the original 12 are still available on The Whisky Exchange for the same price.
As The Glenlivet, The Whisky Exchange, and Whisky.Auction share an owner in Pernod Ricard, it would appear the company has grown weary of holding the bottles and has decided to let the market decide what they are worth. The bottle sold for £18,200 ($25,000), which, despite the fall from the original RRP, we think they’ll be happy with.
All this suggests the secondary market is still very much in correction territory, not only for historically traded bottles but for more-recently mispriced releases. That is what the data guys at Whiskystats say, who are reporting falls across all of their major indices for the month of April. Whiskystats tracks the most traded bottles across Scotch, Irish and Japanese whisky.
Its Scotch index has reached a new low since the 2022 peak, as has its general Whiskystats index, which tracks cross-category bottles.
As they write in their latest report: “It seems the market remains rather volatile and hesitant about the prospect of sustained value growth. The best example of this is Macallan. The Macallan auction price index is currently trapped in a constant back-and-forth of around 6%. In December, the most traded Macallans lost 6.6%, then gained 5.4% in January, lost another 6.6% in February, before recovering 5.6% in March.”
Highest Auction Prices in April 2026
1. The Macallan, The Reach 81yo – $91,534
2. Pappy Van Winkle, Special Reserve 1985 – $80,600
3. Ichiro’s Malt Hanyu, 1990 Queen of Hearts Cask No. 9102 – $56,904
4. Samaroli, Laphroaig 1967 15yo – $39,701
5. Samaroli, Glen Cawdor 1965 – $30,437
6. The Macallan x Bentley Horizon – $30,000
7. The Macallan, Fine & Rare 1937 – $29,114
8. The Macallan Fine & Rare 1952 – $24,219
9. Old Rip Van Winkle, 25yo – $22,700
10. Gordon & MacPhail, Generations Mortlach 1939 75yo – $21,528
11. The Macallan, Fine & Rare 1972 – $21,174
12. Twisted Spoke, 16yo – $18,300
13. Sestante, Caol Ila 18yo – $17,865
14. Bowmore, 1964 43yo – $17,865
15. Glendronach, Finest Highland Malt Full Proof – $17,204
16. Karuizawa, 1995 18yo Ghost Series No. 2 Cask No. 5022 – $16,542
17. The Macallan, Fine & Rare 1966 – $16,644
18. The Macallan, Fine & Rare 1940 – $16,197
19. the Macallan, Millennium 1949 – $16,188
20. Glenfarclas, Pagoda Sapphire Reserve 1953 63yo – $16,188
