The second auction of 2022 was marked by a wealth of new records, confirming the strong momentum already seen in February. The latest results also reiterated the increasing gap between Japanese and Scottish whiskies, which has grown every auction despite the quality of the latter’s auction lots. The same trend was seen for rum.
The record for the highest FSA hammer price—previously held by Karuizawa 1969 (which fetched €19,500 in February 2022)—was beaten twice on Friday, 8 April by:
#1. Pole position
HIBIKI 35 YEARS EARLY KUTANI PEONY AND BUTTERFLY DESIGN SUNTORY, sold for €29,602
Making its first appearance at FSA, the high estimate for this lot was €30,000. Bidding continued right up until the last minute, resulting in a significant price increase in the very last seconds.
#2.
YAMAZAKI 1993 “The Elephant” LMDW Private Cask # 3T70070, sold for €21,000
This bottling has been seen at FSA only once before, in March 2021, when it recorded the second highest hammer price of the auction (€10,000), just behind a Macallan 1938. In exactly two years, its value has seen an astounding 200% increase. Pretty impressive stuff!
Another incredible result was seen for Yamazaki 1991 Sherry Butt No.1S70427, which easily outperformed its high estimate of €12,000, fetching just over €15,000.
The excitement surrounding these bottles, which are rarely seen at auction, slightly dampened bidders’ interest in various other lots, such as the two Karuizawa 1981 Single Cask #2634 bottlings, which went for a slightly lower price than the same vintage in February (€8,600 for Noh Label vs. €7,600 for Vintage Label). This price bracket is nonetheless very high for a 1981 vintage and it’s worth noting that Noh Label Karuizawa are always more popular than Vintage Label Karuizawa.
The latest addition to our auctions, Karuizawa’s Mount Fuji Scenes range—bottled from 1999-2000 micro-batches—is already making waves, with a Batch #22 fetching €4,650.
Finally, in barely six months, the Yoichi distillery—owned by the Nikka Whisky group (Asahi)—and its 1991 vintage single cask #129 651 saw a 150% price increase, leaping from €2,000 in November 2021 to €3,000 in April 2022.
Springbank, the great awakening
We had almost given up hope! Since FSA first launched in November 2020, Springbank and its peated alter ego Longrow have been glaringly absent from our auctions. And yet, since the 1970s, this distillery has not only been considered one of the world’s leading whiskies (alongside the likes of Ardbeg, Macallan, Brora and Bowmore), but it has also been widely and successfully distributed throughout mainland France (SNPA, Auxil, Dugas). Representing barely 1.5% of all lots up for auction, Springbank has stood out for its rare and, let’s be honest, slightly stingy offering!
In this last edition alone, we saw more bottles under the hammer than in all the auctions from November 2020 to February 2022 put together. The time has come to take a closer look at a Scottish treasure that is and always has been a family-run business.
|
FSA#2 APRIL 2022 |
High est. € total
|
Hammer prices € total |
#Lots up for auction |
#Lots sold |
#Lots sold, high est. reached/exceeded
|
|
SPRINGBANK |
€27,130 |
€37,260 |
47 |
47 |
43 |
|
LONGROW |
€4,660 |
€5,320 |
20 |
20 |
15 |
NB. All lots of Springbank and Longrow found a buyer.
Top hammer prices:
- Springbank 30 Years Of. Dumpy Gold Wax, sold for €4,200
- Longrow 21 Years 1994 Single Cask “Springbank Open Day 2016”, sold for €1,150
A special mention goes to the Springbank Local Barley range (distilled with locally grown barley), which set new records across the board despite its relatively recent vintages.
RHUM, RUM
In the rum category, the latest edition of FSA was dominated by French-style rhum agricoles (with very few Demerara and just a handful of Caroni). This time, it was a J.M. 10 Year Old that gave everyone a surprise, with a winning bid of €1,450 per bottle. Although the high number of Trois Rivières bottlings up for auction caused problems for the distillery, its 1953 vintage maintained an average €800 per bottle. All Bally 1970 bottlings found a buyer, but the 1929 vintage was left out in the cold. Finally, Damoiseau remains a connoisseurs’ favourite and held its course, with the 15 Year Old going for around €150 per bottle.
In the world of Demerara rum, Diamond 1996 Full Proof Barrels SVW made a giant leap, increasing in value by just over 150% versus November to reach a hammer price of €2,400 (vs. €1,550 in 2021).
For Caroni, the 12 Year Old 100 Proof finally hit €300 per bottle, versus an average €255 in 2021. The Navy Rum Extra Strong 100th Anniversary 18 Year Old stagnated, even dropping slightly, with an average €240 since the start of the year, versus €260 in 2021.
Finally, in the “Release” range, Caroni 20 Year Old 1992 Full Proof (2012) went up by 170% (€2,000 in April 2022 vs. €1,200 in August 2021) and Caroni 23 Year Old 1996 The Last (2019) jumped by just over 220% (€1,850 in April 2022 vs. €830 in October 2021).
These latest results confirm the prediction that 2022—FSA’s second real year of existence—will be a stand-out year on many fronts!
