Christie’s and Gordon & MacPhail drew a sigh of relief on Friday, November 21, after a bottle of the 85-year-old Artistry in Oak whisky sold for $200,000 at auction.
Gordon & MacPhail revealed the oldest single malt Scotch whisky ever bottled in 2025, limited to 125 decanters at a price of $166,000 (£125,000) each. The whisky came from a single American oak sherry butt, filled on February 3, 1940, with spirit from Glenlivet distillery (read our Tasting Notes here).
Jeanne Gang, one of the world’s leading architects, designed the decanter and the sculpture, inspired by the vision of a piece of amber trapped in twisting oak.
To celebrate the launch, the independent bottlers sent Decanter No 1 to Christie’s, promising all proceeds minus costs to the American Forest Foundation. To sweeten the deal, the lot included the cask end, an original sketch by Gang, and a private tasting with Gordon & MacPhail leadership in Scotland or New York.
That should have added up to a significant premium on the retail price, and Christie’s placed an estimate of $160,000-$300,000 on the lot. Nerves would have started to build midway through the week, though, with the decanter still awaiting its opening bid with 48 hours to go.
Considering the added collectability that is attached to decanter No 1, and the additional items that came with this lot, failure to sell for under the SRP of the other 124 bottles would have put significant scrutiny on its chosen price.
Those fears were allayed when a single bidder showed their cards in the final hours, hitting the required $160,000 (£121,000) starting price. Including buyers’ premium, the final price paid will be $200,000 (£152,000). That is significantly more than the SRP, but a lack of competition will concern those tasked with selling the other 124.
Money from the auction will go to helping the restoration and preservation of America’s oak-dominated forests, which are crucial for the long-term viability of spirits maturation on a global scale.
