WHISKY
Hammer time Top tips if you’re thinking of buying or selling whisky at an online auction B
uying and selling whisky at auction is becoming more popular than ever before. With the emergence of websites dedicated
to auctioning the spirit, there is a whole new audience of people engaging in this secondary market who would probably never have done so in the past. It has even been suggested that the popula-
rity of online whisky auctions is affecting the quality of the bottles appearing at more estab- lished auction houses such as Bonhams or McTear’s, although I’m not convinced that this is necessarily the case. Recently, certain whiskies have been causing
quite a stir at auction. Ahead of the release of its Auriverdes whisky earlier this year, Ardbeg created a very limited batch of gold bottles. These were sent only to journalists and writers and were meant to help generate a bit of a buzz before the general release, which would not be coloured gold. However, guaranteed a premium because of their rarity, a few of these bottles ended up on whisky auction websites and sold for over £2,000 each. Another release that caused a frenzy was
the Bowmore Devil’s Cask. When it came out, shops and online retailers offered it for around £60, and it sold out in a matter of hours. Within a month of the whisky being launched, it was selling at auction for over £200. If you are interested in trying your hand at
buying whisky at auction, spend some time learning the basic rules. (If you are familiar with the way eBay works, you’ll fi nd that online whisky auctions employ a very similar bidding process.) Bear in mind that each auction website or auction house will probably charge a buyer’s premium based on the hammer price. You will also have to pay for shipping if you have bought the whisky online and, depending on the value of the bottle, you may want to pay the courier company to insure it in case anything happens while it’s en route to you. One really good idea is to bid on mixed lots.
You will probably end up getting some excel- lent bargains this way; and if there is a whisky in the lot that you don’t want, you could always sell it at a later date. It is always worth inspect-
WWW.SCOTTISHFIELD.CO.UK 137
ing the bottle beforehand – in person or with high-resolution images – to check that the seal has not been tampered with and that the fi ll level is high in the neck, proving that there has not been any evaporation. There are rules for sellers too. Consider
get ting your bottle valued by the auctioneers beforehand so you aren’t disappointed if it doesn’t fetch as much as you were expecting. Also, bear in mind that there are a few costs
involved in selling at auction and these differ at each website and auction house. It’s worth checking the costs of the listing fee, what percentage commission will be charged on the hammer price and whether there is an extra cost for putting a reserve price on the whisky. It is also important to ensure that bottles en route to auction are wrapped properly so that they aren’t damaged in transit. Most buyers are probably collectors who
are seeking very rare and old whiskies to add to their collections. A few years ago the term ‘investment-grade Scotch’ started to be used to describe these whiskies. These are the bottles that will supposedly go up in value as the years pass. But, like any kind of investment, prices can go down too. Then there is the other kind of auction buyer
who also wants to get old and rare whiskies but who, instead of holding on to the bottle for a few years before selling it on, will open it and enjoy it. Personally, I think this is an excel- lent thing to do if you can afford it. The people who created the whisky, after all, made it to be enjoyed.
WORDS BLAIR BOWMAN
‘Instead of holding on to the bottle for a few years before selling it on, they open it and enjoy it’
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