The Dalmore Highland Single Malt has secured a record sale of HK$8,750,000 / US$1,124,000[1] for a one-of-one, exceedingly rare collection of six extraordinary whiskies at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong. The Dalmore Decades No.6 Collection, the only complete set of The Dalmore Decades, sold as a dedicated single lot auction today. This price achieved represents the highest value for a whisky lot sold at Sotheby’s so far this year and the most valuable whisky lot ever sold by Sotheby’s in Asia. Collectors from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the UK competed to secure the six-bottle collection, with the winning bid going to an Asian private collector. £100,000 from the sale – will be donated to Scotland’s first design museum, V&A Dundee, as part of a four-year partnership between the prestigious cultural institution and the fastest growing single malt whisky worldwide.*
The Decades No.6 Collection brings together milestone releases from 1951, 1967, 1979, 1980, 1995, and 2000 for the first and only time. Master Distiller Richard Paterson’s personal selection includes notable bottlings that mark moments in Scotch history and for the Distillery, showcasing the passion, dedication, and expertise that has been the hallmark of The Dalmore for over 180 years. From the first whisky distilled in the new millennium to the reunion of two incredibly rare Mackenzie-era sherry casks for The Dalmore 60YO, the Collection represents over six decades as the creative force of the Distillery.
Private Client Director, The Dalmore, Gerry Tosh shares, “The Dalmore offers some of Scotland’s most rare and precious whisky stocks, remarkable in their desirability to collectors, investors, and drinkers alike. The Dalmore Decades No.6 Collection is a truly singular celebration of our remarkable history, a once-in-a-lifetime collector’s opportunity to capture the spirit of the Highlands.”
Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s Spirits Specialist, adds: “The Dalmore is truly an icon of the whisky world, and this collection encapsulates everything that the Distillery stands for. In today’s premium whisky market, it also encapsulates the key elements sought after by collectors. Representing yet another benchmark, the result speaks volumes of the strong global demand we have seen over the past two years.”
The world-first partnership between The Dalmore and V&A Dundee is anchored in celebrating exceptional design and craftsmanship in and inspired by Scotland. To mark the launch of the Decades Collections, The Dalmore commissioned the museum to co-produce art film Decades in the Making, illuminating moments in time that have shaped two world-renowned masters from childhood to today. The six-minute film stars Kengo Kuma, architect of V&A Dundee and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games National Stadium, alongside Richard Paterson, exploring the synergies between each man’s pursuit of excellence over seven decades.
V&A Dundee Director Leonie Bell says: “We are delighted to work in partnership with The Dalmore to celebrate the very best in Scottish and international design, from our architecture by Kengo Kuma to our Scottish Design Galleries which explore our nation’s design past, present and future. This generous donation will help continue to support the work we do to champion and celebrate design as an integral part of everyone’s life, in Dundee, across Scotland and around the world.”
Milestone sales of The Dalmore, like the Decades No.6 Collection, achieved over the past ten years highlight a growing appetite to acquire from a refined selection of extraordinary whiskies. The Dalmore is also the only Prestige brand to have grown share both domestically and in Travel Retail in 2020, which makes it no surprise that The Dalmore is the fastest growing of all spirits brands over the last 2 years (IWSR 2021). These accolades come at a time when, according to the 2020 Knight Frank Wealth Report, a 582% increase in value make rare whiskies one of the most lucrative investments for consumers.
The Dalmore has continuously pushed the boundaries in its pursuit of crafting exceptional whisky since its inception in 1839, and the record sale of The Dalmore Decades No.6 Collection is just the latest in a long history of milestones. The Dalmore 64 Trinitas was the first whisky in the world to break the six-figure price barrier in 2010; with only three bottles produced, today each one is said to be worth in excess of $160,000. At the time of its unveiling in 2013, The Dalmore Paterson Collection was the most expensive collection of whiskies ever created, sold in 2017 to a young Chinese collector for £1m. Also in 2017, The Dalmore Brilliance 1926 set a record in travel retail when it sold for $250,000 at Schipol Airport. And finally, in that same year, The Dalmore Drew Sinclair 62 Year Old resold at auction for £91,650 – more than double its pre-auction estimate.
The Dalmore L’Anima was released in 2019, developed in partnership with famed Italian chef Massimo Bottura; the one-of-a-kind bottle was sold at Sotheby’s for £108,900, with proceeds benefiting Massimo Bottura’s charitable foundation. In May 2020, a pair of The Dalmore 62YO whiskies secured £266,200 each at the seminal Sotheby’s Distilled auction, more than doubling the estimate and exceeding the amount achieved for the world’s oldest cognac.
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