Australian Whisky Auctions is now listed on Whiskystats. All past auction results have been mapped to our whisky database, and Whiskystats members can browse and receive notifications on all upcoming auctions.

Whiskystats has increased its global secondary market coverage by adding the leading Australian whisky auction platform. Australian Whisky Auctions has run monthly auctions since early 2021. Over the past years, over 40,000 lots have been offered, with a clear focus on Scotch and Australian whisky.

Australian Whisky

Comparing Australia’s most traded whisky brands to the overall secondary market reveals that Macallan also dominates “down under”. Almost 9% of the bottles sold are Macallans, followed by Hibiki (3.9%), Glendronach (3.4%), and Yamazaki (3.2%), all of which are overrepresented in Australia when compared to their global market share.

It comes as no surprise that Australian whisky is well-presented, too. Sullivans Cove (3.1%), Heartwood (2.4%), and Lark (2.3%) have been among the most traded brands so far in 2024. Overall, Scotch whisky (55.5%) is traded most often, followed by Australian whisky (19.4%), American whisky (10.8%) and Japanese whisky (10.7%). In addition, we have identified 1,500 whiskies that were exclusively traded at Australian Whisky Auctions—most of which are  Australian whiskies.

Australian Prices

More than half of the whisky sold at Australian Whisky Auctions is Scotch, which was distilled, matured and bottled on the other side of the world. With the geographical separation in mind, one would expect that secondary-market whisky is more expensive in Australia. That assumption is indeed confirmed by comparing each 2024 result (including buyer fees) to results from other auction houses within a +/- 15-day period. On average, Scotch whisky sold in Australian auctions achieved 25.5% more than on other auction platforms.

It has to be noted that the price gap between auction houses differs widely for different whisky types and brands. Buyers and sellers within the European Union and the United Kingdom have many auction platforms to choose from, and they can compare the latest auction results for specific bottlings and brands when selecting where to purchase or sell. However, while Australian Whisky Auctions has some of the lowest buying (10%) and selling fees (0%), buyers and sellers outside Australia must consider international delivery costs and import taxes.

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.