Whisky Forum - Auctions

Icelander · Member Joined: 08 Apr 2021 Posts: 16 Location: UK

Does anyone use online auctions? I used to go to Christies and then Bonhams but it had to be a rare bottle and at a good price (or sometimes a nice bottle at a ridiculous price)

I watched one of the online and somebody had purchased a bottle that was not unavailable and was Â£10 to the better. All good. However, add on commission and postage and they were Â£20 down...and of course no idea of authenticity.

It made me think... do people get "excited" and slightly carried away in an auction?
Is there "I must win" element?

Hope they enjoy their purchase though.

Albie · Master Of Malts Joined: 31 Oct 2019 Posts: 271

I do think that there can be a certain amount of auction fever adding to the final price of some auctions.

pilch69 · Single Malt Member Joined: 25 Jun 2020 Posts: 23

I've been keeping my eye on a batch 1 Glenfiddich winter storm

trouble is nearly all has a broken base to the box, almost as if its been in and out so many times its worn away
considering its not been opened you'd think it would be as new

obviously I suspicious that is been refilled and fake

its not just one, its most

lincoln imp · Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 6:13 pm Post subject:

In years gone by i have got a bit excited and paid too much but these days whisky auctions are a common as muck, there are usually at least 1 or 2 a week,and there is 3 finishing this week as it is.
i just let is slide now and to be honest the prices some people are paying at the moment are bordering on insanity.
While I am on the subject i have noticed that many bottles that looked like they were sold re -appear months later, sometimes earlier, i have my suspicions that some auctions are artificially inflating the values of some bottles for gains later on.
At the moment some auctions have lots of bottles of the same whisky that are not available to the minions , strange that, it is obvious that some auction houses get allocated new bottlings (or bottlers go there first) and they go straight on an auction site rather than being made available to the masses.
Also if you took out the reams of Macallan bottles some auction sites would have the auctions half the size , I have no idea how why new Macallan offerings are so popular because a majority of them are in the * to mundane category.

Seriously this is a genuine question to all forum members on here who are fans of later Macallan offerings, can you tell me what the fascination is, do you actually like the taste, or you think it is good value, perhaps a bit of both or do you just buy as an investment with an eye on future gains, a polite question of course?
Macallan of old was at times fantastic but in my view there has not been any of the old quality for at least 20 years, I suspect that a majority of Macallan is purchased to sell on, I
also suspect that if more people actually opened some of the recent bottlings and tasted them the price may come down as they would realise they are being charged too much for the quality of whisky on show.

I love the whisky scene, Scotland and talking to other fans of this iconic spirit but the way that greed at all levels has infiltrated this community in the last few years, possibly longer makes me wonder how long I can get excited about it.

If you want to know about greed check out the new releases of Glenturret at The Whisky Shop because it made my eyes water.

NAS Â£47.45 43%
10 year Â£52.45 50%
12 year Â£64.95 46%
15 year Â£110 55%
25 year Â£1150 44.5% sold out
30 year Â£1500 45.7% sold out

Apologies for going off topic here.
_________________
Pour me a glass please.

Timp · Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 7:04 pm Post subject:

Have about as much desire for Macallan as I do Glenturret tbh.

Oh and f**k all from the The Whisky Shop chain, biggest gougers on the high street. Lol. Often heard itâ€™s for tourists and that just makes it worse in my view. Rant over..

Oh in answer to the question, yes I do use auctions but sparingly and only for things I just canâ€™t get elsewhere. I donâ€™t have any interest in so called investment bottlingâ€™s as I donâ€™t have the money or interest, and I am basically impatient so everything gets opened. Very Happy

lincoln imp · Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 10:04 pm Post subject:

Uncle Bobby · Double Malt Member Joined: 06 Feb 2018 Posts: 92

webdunk · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:05 am Post subject:

Jimny14 · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:34 am Post subject:

At risk of going off topic have any of you guys who are unhappy about the cost of the new glenturret whiskies had a chance to taste them? As I understand it the new whiskies are new blends etc so may taste quite different to the "old" glenturret? I dont know, I've not tasted any.

As far as auctions go I find them useful for picking up a specific bottle that I'm after (specific year presents etc) but much like all auction sites (ebay etc) I find it easiest to set a firm top price that I'd be happy paying (including fees and postage etc) then put that in as my bid and leave it. If I get out bid then tough.
Online auction houses are good at emailing/texting etc to build up hype and remind you have been outbid, theres not much time left etc. But of course they are they earn more money that way.

As for auctions and limited releases, committee releases, etc I see it and suspect lots of it is likely companies trying to limit supply and therefore drive up their profit. This is again what a company is supposed to do. Is it fair to the normal consumer? No, could the distilleries work out who is flipping limited releases or selling job lots likely sent to retail? Probably. My gut feeling is that distilleries dont want to spend the time finding out who is doing it because they dont care as they have had their profit. Business is business I guess.

lincoln imp · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:07 pm Post subject:

Jimny14 · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:15 pm Post subject:

Sorry Imp, I've read your message a couple of times but cant work out whether you've tasted any of the new range or not?

lincoln imp · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:20 pm Post subject:

Jimny14 · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:32 pm Post subject:

Ah no problem. It's a fair point you make. You can get different bottles with the same age statement for a lfar ower price. My argument is that quantifiably that is all you can say. You are likely right that you will prefer the much cheaper 25yo etc whiskies, (possibly even in a blind tasting) but you dont know.

lincoln imp · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 9:19 pm Post subject:

TheWM · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 8:49 am Post subject:

Two points.

The Whiskyshop are sharks who are lucky that my partner was with me when I last visited them as they were so rude and unhelpful that I saw red and told them where they could go.

You can still pick up Glenturret 30s for Â£350 from MoM or similar. In fact Serge reecently reviewed one and scored it 90 IIRC.

Go figure why these ones are still available at what these days appears to be a fair(ish) price.