We continue our countdown of the highest gaining scotch whiskies on the market. Will Compass Box and Macallan continue to dominate? Here are the five best performing Scottish whiskies.
Again we would like to point out that this ranking is based on the auction prices in our whisky database. Hence, we do not consider the original retail prices, only value gains realized on the secondary market.
Also, note this ranking is subject to change since new auction results come in each month. Similar to the first part of our ranking, this is a snapshot taken in July 2020. But now, without further ado, here are the top whisky bottle investments of the last decade.
#5 Compass Box Eleuthera Mariage Cask
In 2005, french whisky importer La Maison du Whisky had its 50th anniversary. To celebrate the occasion, Compass Box invited the owner Thierry Benitah to pick one marrying cask of each of the Eleuthera and Asyla, which were bottled at a slightly higher strength than the regular releases. Both the Eleuthera (Mariage) and the Asyla (Mariage) currently trade for around 800 Euros.
While the Asyla (Mariage) only appeared on our radar in 2017 when it already sold for roughly 700 Euros, our recorded price history for the Eleuthera (Mariage) goes back to July 2011. Nine years ago, this Compass Box special release was available on auctions for less than 50 Euros. Until late 2013 the price tag did not change much before this bottle disappeared from auctions for several years. The 840 Euros from January 2020 equals a 1580% gain in value.
#4 Macallan Seasonal Selection
Between 2005 and 2007, the Easter Elchies special editions were released in seasons. While all of these releases are highly collectable nowadays, the Summer 2007 release made it to place four in our ranking. In May 2020, one of the once existing 285 bottles sold for almost 3.500 Euros. This is even more impressive when we look at the first price observation from March 2012 for around 180 Euros.
The price history of this Summer 2007 release perfectly displays what we called the Grand Macallan Price Rally. From 2016 to 2018, prices for rare Macallan releases skyrocketed, also indicated by our Macallan index. This rally took the prices for the Summer 2007 release from 600 Euros to above 4.000 Euros. As with other Macallans, prices fell back slightly and seemed to consolidate ever since.
#3 Macallan Easter Elchie 2009
Speaking of the Grand Macallan Price Rally, we also need to mention the Easter Elchie 2009 release from cask 14016. The price hype brought one bidder to conclude that 19.500 Euros was a reasonable price in December 2017 at Scotch Whisky Auctions. Not many other market participants followed that lead since the price tag dropped back to below 10.000 Euros quickly. Currently, the Easter Elchie 2009 release is trading for around 6.000 Euros.
Considering the first trades from 2011, when this whisky traded for 300 Euros or less, this secures a spot on the podium of the most profitable whisky bottle investments. It is worth mentioning the 500 Euros price difference between the two latest observations from May 2020. So, although it is the same whisky traded on the same platform in the same round of auctions, we observe an almost 10% difference in price. Although we have to mention that there was slight wear to the carton on the cheaper lot.
#2 Glenlivet 31yo (1969) Cask 1392
No Macallan, no Compass Box, not even an Original Bottling. Place two of the highest gaining scotch whiskies does not quite fit the pattern we have encountered lately. Bottled by independent bottler Signatory Vintage, this Glenlivet 31yo (1969) Cask 1392 has been spotted at auctions only five times. The first observation came from June 2011 when this Speyside single malt achieved 164 Euros.
The latest observation comes from the most recent round of auctions in June 2020. 3.500 Euros was paid for this whisky. One can only wonder how many bottles of the 498 released back in 2000 still exist, and we may have to wait several years until the next one appears at auction.
#1 Macallan 10yo Cask Strength
The fact that the scotch whisky with the highest relative value gain comes from the Macallan distillery is no surprise. That this is a ten-year-old 333ml bottle which currently trades for less than 1.000 Euro is something we did not see coming. The Macallan 10yo Cask Strength (333 ml) release gained more than 2.170% over the past eight years.
The first recorded trade is November 2012 for 37 Euros. In January 2018, the price climbed to 249 Euros. But it is the 841 Euros paid in August 2019 at Scotch Whisky Auctions that catapulted this little bottle to the top of our ranking.
So yes, Compass Box and Macallan dominated the highest-gaining bottles of scotch whiskey over the last decade. We are eager to discover which brands will take the crown in the 2020s.
Disclaimer: the whisky market insights presented in this article are based on the Whiskystats database at the time of publication. Whiskystats is constantly adding new data, and therefore some charts and figures may not match after initial publication.