Whisky Forum - ltd edition hms inverness single malt no.41 of 48

Rapidshed · Member Joined: 29 Sep 2009 Posts: 8

hi folks, i basicaly have in my possession a bottle of whisky, i dont drink so i'm after passing it on to someone who can appreciate it, below is the link to ebay where i popped an advert on i know its fairly rare but have no idea of its value can anyone help with a good figure?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220487784774&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:GB:1123

Martin G · Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:47 am Post subject:

Hi

Does the bottle have a label on the back at all, if so does it tell you which distillery produced the whisky, who bottled it and what age it is or when it was distilled. This info is really important when determining a value for the whisky.

Martin G

Rapidshed · Member Joined: 29 Sep 2009 Posts: 8

hi mate no it doesn't and i can remember for the life of me where it was made, i know it was somewhere around the scottish isles, like mull or dura i think, the age of the wisky is from 1991 they got one that was the same age as the ship.

This is basically all i know, it was given to me as the captian at the time had his fund to use before the ship was gone, so they opted for this as a gift for the ships company.

I'm guessing the fact that there's only been 48 made and les than half of them no exsist goes in the values favour?

Martin G · Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 1:45 pm Post subject:

That is a pity you dont know what is in the bottle exactly as it would have probably attracted more and maybe even higher bids for it. i am sure the actual origin of it will make it collectable to some but i wouldnt like to hazard a guess to its value. Anyway good luck with selling it.

Just a thought doesnt ebay have some sort of category for military/navy memoribilia or something perhaps it would also attract bids from this section of ebay.

Martin G

Rapidshed · Member Joined: 29 Sep 2009 Posts: 8

i've loked on various web sites for the locations of distillarys in scotland, all i know is that we were on the west coast making our way to inverness and i'm sure it was done on or around mull, in which case there's only the one company on there but thats guessing and i can find out where exactly which as you say is a real shame.

Gavin · Single Malt Member Joined: 14 Jun 2009 Posts: 22

That is a pity you do not know the distillery it was from, if it had been from one of the more desirable distilleries such as Ardbeg on Islay it would have been worth quite a bit more. Still may be of interest to a whisky collector, good luck with the sale.

Gavin

Alastair · Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:32 pm Post subject:

Tobermory distillery, is the only distillery on the Island of Mull although it does produce 2 single malt whiskies, Tobermory and Ledaig. The Tobermory malt is lighter than the peated Ledaig.

You could try contacting the Tobermory distillery telling them you are trying to trace the origins of the bottle you have and you suspect it is from their distillery, give them all the info you have including dates and ask if they have a record of bottling this for Lt Cdr David Bence of HMS Inverness. Or you could try contacting Burn Stewart Distillers who are the owners of the Tobermory distillery. Sometimes distilleries can be very helpful in theses matters. Good luck.

Alastair

Rapidshed · Member Joined: 29 Sep 2009 Posts: 8

yeah sound advice had a thought about that earlier, but i'm not sure on tobemoray, as i remember going in there for a visit, which was a tight sueeze for the ship, its not there i dont think, but will phone around a few its definatly west coast though,

if i can trace the origins whats it likely to be worth i dont want to let it go cheapely but on the other hand i'm not expecting silly money.

i've seen other whiskys with a limited number say 200 go for 200 p9ounds plus

Rapidshed · Member Joined: 29 Sep 2009 Posts: 8

ok so far i've narrowed it down to coming from islay the other have no record ofit, so i have to now sift through the ones from there and find which one.

Rapidshed · Member Joined: 29 Sep 2009 Posts: 8

right thats it sorted ardbeg did it and provided the whisky, however it was sent to and independent bottler to be bottled and labelled hence the ships crest etc.

only 48 bottles were produced from what they said was a limited cask, apparently it was one opened just for us, they said it was a 17yr old malt

does this add value what should i expect to get for it now?

i have no idea about this kinda stuff.

Andy M · Master Of Malts Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 1220

Hi Rapidshed

If it is a 17 year old Ardbeg single cask bottling it should definitely add to its value. But as it doesnt say this on the label i think it would be a good idea if you could get some sort of letter of authentication from Ardbeg/Independent bottler detailing what is exactly in the bottle and confirming it was supplied to HMS Inverness. It would help if the letter stated Cask Number, Type of Cask, Year of Distillation, Year Bottled and as i said confirming it was supplied to Lt Cdr David Bence of HMS Inverness. Without some type of authentication it is simply an unknown whisky with no age statement and it would not be worth a great deal but perhaps the HMS Inverness label would add a little value.

If you do a search for Ardbeg on The Whisky Exchange you will see independent bottlings of Ardeg 17 year old sell for around Â£80 - Â£90 but remember this is a price for whisky from established reputable independent bottlers and these prices include duty, taxes and the shop mark up. I would say you would really need some type of letter of authentication to get this amount for it. Although the HMS Inverness connection may add to its value, I wouldnt think much but i wouldnt like to misguide you.

If you had asked before putting it on ebay i would have suggested contacting Bonhams auctioneers in Edinburgh

Charlie · Master Of Malts Joined: 23 Sep 2008 Posts: 1413

It does look very dark for an Ardbeg, i wonder if it was matured in a sherry cask, do you have that info Rapidshed.

Where did you get the info on it saying it was 17 years old was it from the Ardbeg distillery?

As Andy says a letter of authenticity would make a difference here, but i dont know if you would be able to get one, perhaps just a letter from ardbeg confirming that they did actually supply such a whisky and the details of it. Without anything like this i think it isnt even worth half the Â£50 you are asking on ebay.

Charlie

McKay · Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 4:28 pm Post subject:

Hi Rapidshed

I have just read this post and your auction on ebay and was getting a little confused over dates and age of this whisky.

Would i be right in saying that you are now saying that the whisky was distilled at the Ardbeg distillery and i assume it was bottled in 2005 to mark the decommissioning of HMS Inverness, am i correct. And you say it is 17 years old therefore it would have been distilled in 1988. Note that whisky stops aging once it has been bottled.

The reason i ask is the Ardbeg distillery was mothballed in 1980 due to a slump in the whisky industry and didnt reopen and produce whisky until 1989 but the dates and ages you have posted doesnt quite tie in with this. If you have the exact details to clear this up that would be great.

Also to point out the obvious the label on the bottle states that it is a "Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky", not a "Islay Single Malt Whisky" which it would be if from Ardbeg. But i suppose the bottler would have printed whatever was requested on the label and printing Highland rather than Islay was more appropriate i suppose since Inverness is in the Highlands and not Islay.

Mckay

Rapidshed · Member Joined: 29 Sep 2009 Posts: 8

rightgot a call back this morning what a load of twaddle, basically got duff information which leaves me at square 1.

urs highland whisky, so now going to phone every bloody distillary in the highlands and see if they can shed light, its a nightmare, however,

does anyone know about markings on the bottom of bottles?

mine has the following

700ml
62mm
sd764
a23

and un upside down bead frame with an 8 next to it

just in case these give any clues.

i'm taking it off flea bay until as suggested i can add proof of its origens.

Rapidshed · Member Joined: 29 Sep 2009 Posts: 8

the issue here is its from scotland thats all i know lol, i also know the cask was brought especially for this and only this, it was supposed to be a whisky made in 1991 as was the ship and it was bottled in 2005 and stopped aging as did the ship, so that makes it 14 yrs old,

i also now know that 48 big bottles were produced and 15 minitures.

i have just got to find the sodding place so i can confirm where its come from and then the buyer can phone them at the very least to gain proof.