A Perfect Result

15th November 2025

Rolling into a picturesque dales village on a crisp autumn day, I pulled up in front of the cottage, with its mossy roof and weather-beaten door to find a familiar face stood pensively outside. There stood a solicitor I had worked with for many years, white as a sheet and visibly nervous as he twitched on the spot. I had always known him as a sensible man, meticulous with his work and straight forward in business, but as he stammered to explain his manner, I was faced with a nervy entry to the house.

Other than this puzzled gent, nobody had a key to the property of a now sadly deceased estate, yet since he had last visited (only days earlier) some of the contents had been moved. Nothing taken, nothing broken, not the work of a burglar or unhappy relative, but as if someone was still living there.  Most peculiar of all was at the top of the staircase, where a single bottle of whisky, a particular favourite of the chap who had passed away, stood alone teetering on the top step, in the way and obvious for all to see.

Very happy to leave me to my work and alone in the house, the solicitor passed on his nerves and was off back to the office, yet after hours spent valuing the contents I was happy to report that I remained completely alone, yet surrounded by hundreds of spirits in the form of one of the most remarkable whisky collections I had ever seen. Under the stairs, two large shelving units, three wardrobes and a large chest of drawers heaved with golden bottles sourced from every corner of the Scottish Isles. I must admit that not only in work, but in my personal life I am a great fan of whisky, so such a collection was immensely exciting – even if it was going to mean weeks of hard research and cataloguing in readiness for our November 15^th Fine Wine, Port & Whisky auction.

The morning of the sale started with promise as the office hummed with ringing phones and the patter of feet clattering their way into our saleroom. Other than the huge 344 lot whisky section bolstered by the dales estate, we had in all 689 lots of spirits, wine and port, with high quality throughout.

Stepping onto the rostrum for our half nine start I was thrilled to see both internet systems flashing with early bidders and a room filled with excited faces, ready to fill their stores for Christmas. The miscellaneous spirits section started well with a few surprises amid the older bottles, and Chartreuse performing as well as ever with a bottle from the 1980s making a healthy £320. Swiftly moving onto the cognac and brandy section, the strength of bidding continued seeing £400 on the hammer for a Fine Old Liqueur Brandy, from 1865.

This momentum launched us into the start of the whisky section where prices were good throughout and very few lots were not selling within or over their estimate. Single bottles were selling time and again for hundreds of pounds, but to mention but a few highlights: a 1980s 14yr old Longrow made £700, a Flora & Fauna 12yr old Speyburn made  £900, a 1980s 18yr old Macallan made £1150, a Macallan 1975 18yr old made £1200, a Bowmore 1969 made £1300, a Macallan 1954 made £1900 and an Ardbeg 17yr produced by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society made a whopping £2300. The section showed plenty of strength still in the world-renowned brand of Macallan, but the high spot was stolen with the Ardbeg, not surprising as Ardbeg (although running today) had been mothballed in the 1980s, giving real rarity to some of their earlier malts.

The port came next as we made our first solid venture into European drink, and although port in previous years had felt less popular, the results on the 15th told a different tale. Again, all lots were selling within or above their estimates, with vintage dates and early examples bringing real competition. With this we saw a Taylor’s 1955 vintage port make £200, and three separate bottles of Croft’s that sold for £260 and £300 respectively.  However the most fun of all was a mystery bottle with a capsule dating it to 1917 (over 100 years old!) that sold well at £210, even with an uncertain past.

Champagne has always brought its own sparkle to the auction, and although a section of only 30 lots, the quality was good and the bidding furious in readiness for Christmas festivity. The best results were seen from a Moet et Chandon 1971 vintage champagne that fetched £240, a Louis Roederer 1985 Cristal champagne that also saw £240 and a bottle of 1985 Krug champagne that sold well at £360.

On we delved into the Bordeaux, again showing more competition than previous years when some of the New World wine had started to steal the limelight. Some of the larger bottling seemed to grab the markets attention this year, with a 2010 Magnum of Vieux Chateau Certan reaching £280, another large bottle of 1970 Chateau Brane-Cantenac that made £290 and two magnums of Chateau Palmer that made a healthy £360. But the best of the standard sized bottles came unsurprisingly from a 1989 Grand Vin de Chateau Latour that made £320 and a 1986 Chateau Lafite Rothschild that romped up to £340.  

The last section of the sale came with grand aplomb as the French Burgundy & Rhone began to fall under the gavel. Even after 630 lots, by this point the market’s hunger for more did not seem to wane, as from the first lot of the section bidding was positive and once again lots were defeating expectation. Of the more “modern” offerings a 2002 Chambolle-Musigny made £260 and a 2001 Vosne-Romanee made a healthy £520.  This was followed by a string of Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage from the late 1980s and early 1990s that roared away with three 1988 bottles selling for £320 each, a 1989 for £420, two from 1990 at £560 and £620, and one from 1991 making £720. The best of the Burgundy and all the wine lots for that matter, came from a bottle of 1973 Romanee-St-Vivant, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, that left its estimate in the dust to make a wonderful £1050.

In my sale reports I often talk about high selling rates and percentages, auctioneers up and down the country aim for as high as possible and anything beyond 90% sold would always be a huge win. So, it brings me great pleasure to report that of the 689 lots offered, not a single item was left unsold and we ended the day a hare’s breath from the top accumulative estimate of the whole auction. A dream result as we nose our way to the end of 2025, with the Fine Sale looming on the 26^th and preparations already being made for 2026.