Many whiskies gained value in July

Most of the major whisky market indices were in the plus in July. Collector favourites like Macallan, Springbank, and Glendronach led the way while Rosebank tailed. Here is the Whiskystats Price Update for July 2024.

Summertime is usually the quietest season on the secondary whisky market. As the temperature climbs, fewer bottles of whisky are sold. 2024 is no exception. The 19,300 trades in July 2024 were on par with July 2023 but clearly short of the close to 30,000 bottles exchanged in January or November.

Low Volume, High Prices

While the trading volume was low, the realised prices were noticeably higher than in the preceding months. The 500 whiskies included in the Whiskystats Whisky Index gained almost 4% in value. This marks the highest one-month index gain since the auction market peaked in March 2022. After two years of severe losses, the Whiskystats Whisky Index now seems to have entered a phase of sideward movements.

The Whiskystats Whisky Index saw its highest one-month index gain since March 2022.

Almost all major whisky market indices were in the plus in July: Independent Bottlings (+1.9%), Original Bottlings (+3.4%), Scotch whisky in general (+3.3%), and even recently struggling Japanese whisky (+3.8%). The 100 historically most traded Macallan releases gained 5.1% in value. Highly collectable whiskies such as the below-displayed Macallan Diamond Jubilee are responsible for this upward movement. After auction buyer prices recently dropped below €4,500, the three bottles sold in July exceeded €5,000.

All three bottles of the Macallan Diamond Jubilee on offer in July sold for more than €5,000.

Eight bottles of the Macallan 30-year-old (Blue Label) fetched more than €6,250 each at Sotheby’s Paris on July 9. Another example driving the Macallan index up is the 1999 Easter Elchies which, after having dropped to €3,000 in January of this year, realised €4,400. Other collector’s favourites were also in the plus. Springbank (+3.6%), Glendronach (+4.1%) and Port Ellen (+4.3%) all saw solid gains. For Port Ellen, some independent bottlings stood out.

The Port Ellen 1982 from Thosop Import realized a new record price in July.

The above-displayed Port Ellen 1982 from Thosop Import sold for a new record buyer price of €1,760 at Whisky Auctioneer. Another 1982 vintage, the Port Ellen 1982 Single Cask 2594 from Samaroli, also reached a new all-time peak at €1.860. And finally, the Port Ellen 1978 Old & Rare from Douglas Laing reached €1,250 after trading below €1,000 at the end of 2023 and early 2024.

Losses for Rosebank

Not all of the major collector’s brands experienced gains in July. One of the most notable exceptions is Rosebank. The 34 releases traded in July resulted in the Rosebank auction index losing 5.3% in value. Buyer prices for the Rosebank 1981 Rare Malts Selection fell to €870. Back in 2022, this 2004 release regularly sold for close to €2,000.

Auction prices for the Rosebank 1982 Rare Malts Selection fell to €870.

More recent releases also suffered. The highest bid for the Rosebank 21-year-old The Roses (Edition 2) came in at €1,750 (including fees), continuing the downward trend that started in August 2022, when prices peaked at €4,600. And the Rosebank 1993 Single Cask 433 released in 2020 fell to €3,000, its lowest price ever.

It remains to be seen if the price stabilisation in the broader market will persist when the trading volume increases again in the upcoming months. Become a Whiskystats member to stay on top of the secondary whisky market.

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; therefore, some charts and figures may not match after initial publication.