Game of Thrones is dominating the secondary whisky market. The television series themed releases are flooding the auction platforms with a never before seen number of trades. Meanwhile, prices for Japanese single malts soar again.
A whopping eighteen-thousand price observations found their way into our database last month. These prices affected almost 8.800 different whiskies. Note that due to the slowly changing auction rhythm of WhiskyAuction.com, we assigned both their 2019-03 and 2019-04 auctions to March 2019. Nevertheless, it was an outstandingly busy month on the auction platforms we track.
Our major market indicator, the Whiskystats Whisky Index (WWI), was not very impressed by the number of bottles traded. In March 2019, the historically 500 most traded whiskies lost 0.4% in value. After the turbulent movements we witnessed over the last twelve months, one might wonder how long it will take for the WWI to break out again and whether the direction will be north or south.
Japan Again
There is nothing quite like the price history of Japanese single malts. The Japanese Whisky Boom of 2014 and 2015 saw our Japan index increase by 300% over eighteen months. What followed was three years of sideward movements where prices stabilized, and our index settled at around 400 index points. Then 2018 came along, and prices climbed significantly again, with our index gaining roughly 140% through late summer of last year. During the winter months, the market calmed down, or so it seemed. In March 2019, the 100 most traded Japanese single malts gained 5% in value.
So let’s examine which of the Japanese whiskies in our database caused these index movements. The Hanyu Joker (Coloured) now reached an average price of 3.000 Euros this month. Interestingly, it traded for 3.460 Euros at WhiskyAuctioneer.com but only 2.560 Euros at ScotchWhiskyAuctions.com. The Karuizawa 31yo Golden Geisha reached 10.000 Euros again, while the Karuizawa 33yo (1981) Single Cask 136 is slowly approaching the 4.000 Euro threshold.
But it is not only these legacy releases which are highly sought-after. Take the Chichibu IPA Barrel Finish, which almost reached 500 Euros. Or the Chichibu Port Pipe Cask 1825, which sells for more than 1.000 Euros. Even the just-released Chichibu Single Cask 1179 sold for more than 1.000 Euros at WhiskyAuctioneer.com. Together with the more “humble” prices at WhiskyAuction.com, this results in an average price of 800 Euros for a release offered in selected whisky shops for comparably little money only weeks ago.
Outstanding Trades
Unless Whiskystats is the only website you visit, you most likely have heard of Game of Thrones. When the most popular television series of the decade entered its final season, Diageo jumped into the fray. The various releases, each dedicated to a major family faction drawn from the series, are all over the place, arriving on the auction platforms in no time. According to our monthly summary, the Lochnagar (House Baratheon) release is the most traded whisky of the month. A staggering 239 bottles were sold at auction. With 193 trades, the Clynelish (House Tyrell) takes second place, followed by the Oban (Night’s Watch) edition (170 trades). Also among the top ten most traded bottles of the month is the Lagavulin (House Lannister) release. In total, we observed 786 trades of Game of Thrones releases which equals more than 4% of the whole market.
Some of these releases achieved remarkable results. Prices for the Clynelish (House Tyrell) averaged 137 Euros but went as high as 220 Euros. The same is true for the Lochnagar (House Baratheon) release. Based on the number of trades and the prices paid, it seems like the Clynelish, Lochnagar and Oban expressions are the market favourites of the collection.
As we remind you every month, keep an eye on the change in the value of your personal collections here on Whiskystats.
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.