April 2025 Auction

Bruichladdich 2001 Renaissance 9 Year Old / Feis Ile 2011

Like its island neighbour Bunnahabhain distillery, Bruichladdich has traditionally been an un-peated single malt, mostly owing to its requirements by the blenders who owned it. The last of these was Whyte & Mackay, who eventually shut it down in 1995, deeming it surplus to requirements. They sold the distillery to Murray McDavid in 2001, who launched the peated Port Charlotte and heavily-peated Octomore single malts in 2006 and 2008. A recommissioned Lomond still also now produces the popular Botanist gin there.

Distilled on 11th September 2001 and bottled 2011 from a bourbon cask, this is one of 2,500 bottles exclsuively released to Feis Ile in 2011.

Feis Ile, also known as the Islay Festival of Music and Malt had humble beginnings. It traces it origins back to 1985 and the establishment of The Islay Festival Association after it was realised that an event celebrating Gaelic, music and culture would drive tourism to the island. The inaugural event was two weeks of music, drama and workshops with ceilidhs, concerts and dances in the evening. The first whisky tasting took place as a festival event in 1990, and ten years later the island's distilleries began to be directly involved, organising their annual open days to coincide with it. Today it is one of the biggest events on the whisky calendar, annually drawing hundreds of revellers, and turning out an increasingly sought-after batch of limited edition whiskies like this.

Emmanuel Camut Single Cask #001 French Whisky 50cl / Colheitas and The Auld Alliance

This is an Emmanuel Camut single malt, bottled in collaboration with Colheitas and The Auld Alliance.

From St. Leger, Normandy, France.

Balvenie 13 Year Old Moscatel Cask Finish / Taiwan

Balvenie was built by William Grant in 1892 and remains part of his family's company to this day. In the early part of its history, its purpose was primarily for the provision of malt for Grant's blends, however following the global success of Glenfiddich, the Balvenie single malt brand was launched in 1973. It remained a rarity though, and it was not until the opening of Kininvie in 1990, and later Ailsa Bay in Girvan, that the distillery was given the freedom to focus on its single malt. Today it is one of the best recognised brands in the world. In 1993 they launched the 12 year old \"DoubleWood,\" an expression credited with pioneering the use of cask-finishing, and this has become a key motif for the distillery's output in recent times. 

This Balvenie was initially matured in Oloroso sherry casks, then finished in Moscatel casks. Released in 2024, this was exclusive to the Taiwanese market.

Ben Bracken 1989 28 Year Old Speyside Single Malt

This single malt was distilled at an undisclosed Speyside distillery in 1987 and matured for 28 years. It was bottled at cask strength by Wallace & Young DIstillers Co, under the popular Ben Bracken label.

Balvenie 12 Year Old Signature Batch #2

Balvenie was built by William Grant in 1892 and remains part of his family's company to this day. In the early part of its history, its purpose was primarily for the provision of malt for Grant's blends, however following the global success of Glenfiddich, the Balvenie single malt brand was launched in 1973. It remained a rarity though, and it was not until the opening of Kininvie in 1990, and later Ailsa Bay in Girvan, that the distillery was given the freedom to focus on its single malt. Today it is one of the best recognised brands in the world. In 1993 they launched the 12 year old \"DoubleWood,\" an expression credited with pioneering the use of cask-finishing, and this has become a key motif for the distillery's output in recent times.

This is the second batch of the Signature, which David Stewart crafted to mark his 45th year in the whisky industry. Matured in the three most traditional cask types: first fill bourbon, refill bourbon and sherry.

When it was launched in 2007, this was intended as a replacement for the Founder's Reserve, which was discontinued two years later. The series only spanned five batches however, the last of these appearing in 2013.

Bruichladdich Links 14 Year Old / 18th Green, Royal Troon

Like its island neighbour Bunnahabhain distillery, Bruichladdich has traditionally been an un-peated single malt, mostly owing to its requirements by the blenders who owned it. The last of these was Whyte & Mackay, who eventually shut it down in 1995, deeming it surplus to requirements. They sold the distillery to Murray McDavid in 2001, who launched the peated Port Charlotte and heavily-peated Octomore single malts in 2006 and 2008. A recommissioned Lomond still also now produces the popular Botanist gin there.

The Bruichladdich Links collection was created in partnership with Graeme Baxter the famous Golf Course artist. The series features nine whiskies featuring different golf courses. This bottle depicts the 18th hole at Royal Troon.

One of 12,000 bottles. 

Benriach 22 Year Old Dark Rum Wood Finish

Benriach is a distillery with long-standing transatlantic connections. It was procured by Seagram in 1978, the former Canadian drinks empire, and is now in the hands of the Brown-Forman corporation, via Billy Walker who rescued it from a brief mothballing in 2002. Walker bottled some of the peated whisky that Seagram had begun producing there for its blends in 1983, and the positive reaction to these means the distillery now produces both a peated and unpeated single malt. Benriach is one of only seven distilleries in Scotland to still operate its own in-house floor maltings.

This Benriach has been matured for 22 years and finished in dark rum casks. It was bottled in 2014.

Bowmore 1988 The Ultimate 7 Year Old

Islay’s oldest working distillery, Bowmore was established in 1779 and is now regarded as one of the most popular malts not only on Islay, but in the whole of Scotland. The distillery was acquired by Stanley P. Morrison in 1963, ushering in an era of iconic single malts, including the legendary Black Bowmore, credited by many as the genesis of whisky collecting, bottled in 1993. The distillery was bought under the control Suntory the year after (they had been stakeholders since 1989), and it remains one of the most collectible brands in Scotch whisky today. Bowmore is one of the few remaining Scottish distilleries to use its own floor maltings, providing them with 40% of their requirements. The unique microclimate in their iconic No.1 vaults shares very little with the angels, meaning casks are readily available for independent labels like this, many of which are spectacular.

This Bowmore was distilled in June 2003 and matured in single bourbon barrel #800281 for 7 years. It was bottled by The Ultimate Whisky Company in June 2011.

The Ultimate Whisky Company was founded in The Netherlands in 1994 by long-time whisky enthusiasts Han and Maurice van Wees. Their releases are always bottled without colouring or chill-filtration, with the most special casks saved for their Rare Reserve series.

One of 346 bottles.

Ballechin 2004 Bourbon Cask 15 Year Old / IWBoS

Ballechin is the heavily peated single malt produced at Edradour. When Signatory Vintage took over the distillery in 2002, they installed former Laphroaig distillery manager, Iain Henderson, as Director of Operations, and inspired by his previous place of work, the first peated distillation at Edradour took place in 2003. Generally matured in a range of different wine casks, the first bottlings were turned out in 2006

A small batch release, this Ballechin was distilled ion the 18th of February 2004 and bottled from bourbon casks #74 and #76 in April 2016.

One of 462 bottles produced for The Independent Whisky Bars of Scotland.

Benromach 17 Year Old Centenary

Benromach distillery in Speyside was built at the end of the 19th century, and spent much of the next providing malt for the blends of its owners, who included Macdonald Greenlees, Joseph Hobbs and latterly, DCL (now Diageo), who were the first to produce a distillery bottling of its single malt as part of the Rare Malts Selection. DCL closed the distillery in 1983, selling it to current proprietors, Gordon & MacPhail, ten years later. They then had to spend the next five rebuilding it from scratch, as little remained other than the shell of the buildings. It has since become a well-regared and widely distributed single malt.

Bottled to commemorate 100 years of the distillery, this 17 year old was released in 1998 by Gordon & MacPhail, using some of the last whiksy produced under DCL ownership. Remarkably, despite the equipment and distillation process having changed between then and now, the character of Benromach remains very similar.

The final two years of maturation of this whisky were spent in sherry casks dating as far back as 1896, 1895 and 1891.

Ballechin 2005 Single Caroni Rum Cask Finish #906 / LMDW

Ballechin is the heavily peated single malt produced at Edradour. When Signatory Vintage took over the distillery in 2002, they installed former Laphroaig distillery manager, Iain Henderson, as Director of Operations, and inspired by his previous place of work, the first peated distillation at Edradour took place in 2003. Generally matured in a range of different wine casks, the first bottlings were turned out in 2006.

This whisky was distilled in 2005 and aged first in single cask #906 before finishing in a ex-Caroni rum cask. It was bottled at cask strength in 2016 for La Maison du Whisky.

La Maison du Whisky, aka LMDW, was founded in 1956 by Georges Benitah and is now one of the largest whisky and rum importers and distributors in France, and known the world over. They opened their first shop in Paris at the legendary 20 Rue d'Anjou in 1968, importing their first Scotch malt whiskies in the 1970s. They are known for their expertise in not only Scotch, but Japanese whisky and rum too, and their collaborative bottlings, as well as their own independent labels like this one, are highly prized.

Benriach 1997 Single Rum Cask Finish 19 Year Old #8634 / UK

Benriach is a distillery with long-standing transatlantic connections. It was procured by Seagram in 1978, the former Canadian drinks empire, and is now in the hands of the Brown-Forman corporation, via Billy Walker who rescued it from a brief mothballing in 2002. Walker bottled some of the peated whisky that Seagram had begun producing there for its blends in 1983, and the positive reaction to these means the distillery now produces both a peated and unpeated single malt. Benriach is one of only seven distilleries in Scotland to still operate its own in-house floor maltings.

A 19 year old Benriach, drawn from single cask #8634 after a rum cask finish.

Distilled in 1997 and bottled in November 2016, and was made available exclusively to UK retail.

One of 266 bottles. 

Botrys VSOP Brandy 50 Year Old

An old bottling of Botrys's VSOP Greek brandy that has been matured for an impressive 50 years. A very rare example of brandy at this age.

Please note: no ABV or volume are stated on this lot

Book: The Whisky Distilleries of Scotland 1887 by Alfred Barnard - Reprint

Around 1885, Alfred Barnard was secretary of Harper's Weekly Gazette, a journal dedicated to the wine and spirit trade. In order to provide his readers with the history and descriptions of the whisky-making process, Barnard decided to visit all distilleries in Scotland, England and Ireland. Accompanied by friends, he visited over 150 distilleries. The names found in his reports still excite the dedicated whisky connoisseur today, as well as others whose fame has faded since the end of the 19th century. The appeal of Barnard's book lies not only in the technical descriptions of each distillery's processes, but also in the colourful descriptions of his journeys, brimming with historical colour and detail. A superbly illustrated facsimile edition, with over 200 engravings, this book is a complete guide to the origins of Scotland's national drink, as well as a lively picture of life and travel in the Victorian age.

This paperback is a selective (and heavily condensed) reprint of Alfred Barnard's The Whisky Distilleries of Scotland 1887. It was reprinted in Scotland in the 1970s for Northern Books, by Famedram Publishers of Gartocharn.

This book measures approximately 14.5cm x 20cm

Blanton's Single Barrel dumped 2020 70cl

Blanton's is a bourbon brand from the portfolio of Age International, the company formed by former Fleischmann's Distilling director's, Bob Baranaskas and Ferdie Falke. They had approached Schenley in the early 1980s with a view to purchasing its Old Charter brand, but were instead offered Ancient Age and the George T. Stagg distillery where it was produced. The deal was completed in 1983, two years before the retirement of George T. Stagg master distiller, Elmer T. Lee, who had served there for 36 years, working his way from the bottom up. One of his final pioneering triumphs before doing so was the introduction of mass produced single barrel bourbon, specifically through the creation of the Blanton's brand in 1984.

Normally a 6 to 8 year old bourbon, it is aged in Warehouse H at Buffalo Trace, which is the only metal-clad warehouse at the distillery, commissioned for construction by Albert B. Blanton, after whom the whiskey is named. The warehouse was built shortly after prohibition and being metal, transfers heat quicker than brick warehouses, allowing for more rapid ageing.

The popularity of these products was particularly high in Japan, coinciding with a market boom for American whiskey there in the 1980s. In 1991, with Age International in some financial trouble, a Japanese company called Takaro Shuzo stepped in and acquired a 22.5% stake in the company. In an unusual series of events, they then scuppered a deal the following year that was to see the remaining shares sold to Heublein (a subsidiary of Grand Metropolitan). Their deal the year before had included a 30 day right of refusal to purchase the shares for themselves should they be put up for sale. With the deal all but done, the Japanese company stepped in on the final day of the window to acquire full control of the company. As it turned out, their only interest was in the brands, and they had used the 30 days to negotiate a deal with the Sazerac Company of  New Orleans. This saw the American company take ownership of the distillery (which they renamed Buffalo Trace in 1999), as well as the exclusive production and US distribution rights for the Age International labels. This is an arrangement that is still in place today.

This is a 2020 bottling.

Since 1999, every bottle of Blanton's has one of 8 different stoppers, each depicting a horse and jockey at a different stage of finishing a race. The designs are all lettered so that a complete set laid out side by side will spell \"BLANTONS.\" 

Please note due to the fragility of Blanton’s bottle seal and packaging, Whisky Auctioneer cannot accept responsibility for any damage and/or leakage during transit.

Bowmore Legend pre-2007

Islay’s oldest working distillery, Bowmore was established in 1779 and is now regarded as one of the most popular malts not only on Islay, but in the whole of Scotland. The distillery was acquired by Stanley P. Morrison in 1963, ushering in an era of iconic single malts, including the legendary Black Bowmore, credited by many as the genesis of whisky collecting, bottled in 1993. The distillery was bought under the control Suntory the year after they had been stakeholders since 1989), and it remains one of the most collectible brands in Scotch whisky today. Bowmore is one of the few remaining Scottish distilleries to use its own floor maltings, providing them with 40% of their requirements.

Legend was a youthful non-age statement release, added to the core range in 1994 and produced until 2015 when it was replaced by the Small Batch Reserve.

Bruichladdich 2010 Fiona Glover Valinch 10 Year Old / COE Brandy

Like its island neighbour Bunnahabhain distillery, Bruichladdich has traditionally been an un-peated single malt, mostly owing to its requirements by the blenders who owned it. The last of these was Whyte & Mackay, who eventually shut it down in 1995, deeming it surplus to requirements. They sold the distillery to Murray McDavid in 2001, who launched the peated Port Charlotte and heavily-peated Octomore single malts in 2006 and 2008. A recommissioned Lomond still also now produces the popular Botanist gin there.

The Valinch bottlings are 50cl single cask releases, available exclusively from the distillery. More recent versions have also been hand-filled by distillery visitors.

This is the 53rd release of the Laddie Crew Valinch series, and this particular release celebrates Housekeeper Fiona Glover. The whisky was distilled on 10th March 2010 and laid to rest in a cask that previously held COE Brandy for 10 years.

One of 490 bottles.

Benriach 22 Year Old Dark Rum Wood Finish

Benriach is a distillery with long-standing transatlantic connections. It was procured by Seagram in 1978, the former Canadian drinks empire, and is now in the hands of the Brown-Forman corporation, via Billy Walker who rescued it from a brief mothballing in 2002. Walker bottled some of the peated whisky that Seagram had begun producing there for its blends in 1983, and the positive reaction to these means the distillery now produces both a peated and unpeated single malt. Benriach is one of only seven distilleries in Scotland to still operate its own in-house floor maltings.

This Benriach has been matured for 22 years and finished in dark rum casks. It was bottled in 2014.

Bimber Imperial Stout Cask Release #3 / Klub Edition

The founders of London's Bimber distillery, Dariusz and Ewelina, moved from Poland to the UK in 2003, opening their distillery in the Park Royal area of west London twelve years later. Plazewski inherited his passion for whisky from his grandfather, who also distilled his own spirits. The company’s first casks were laid down on the 26th May 2016, and three years later they released their first single malt in September 2019. This became the first whisky to be distilled and bottled in London for over a century. The distillery carries a “farm-to-bottle” approach by sourcing 100% of its barley from a single producer and using traditional floor maltings and slow fermentation techniques. Distillation takes place via a 1,000-litre wash still and a 600-litre spirit still that were both crafted by Hoga of Spain.

This small batch whisky was matured initially in bourbon casks, then finished in Imperial Stout casks. This is the third release for the Bimber Klub, bottled at cask strength in November 2022.

One of 1,650 bottles.

Blanton's Single Barrel dumped 2021 70cl

Blanton's is a bourbon brand from the portfolio of Age International, the company formed by former Fleischmann's Distilling director's, Bob Baranaskas and Ferdie Falke. They had approached Schenley in the early 1980s with a view to purchasing its Old Charter brand, but were instead offered Ancient Age and the George T. Stagg distillery where it was produced. The deal was completed in 1983, two years before the retirement of George T. Stagg master distiller, Elmer T. Lee, who had served there for 36 years, working his way from the bottom up. One of his final pioneering triumphs before doing so was the introduction of mass produced single barrel bourbon, specifically through the creation of the Blanton's brand in 1984.

Normally a 6 to 8 year old bourbon, it is aged in Warehouse H at Buffalo Trace, which is the only metal-clad warehouse at the distillery, commissioned for construction by Albert B. Blanton, after whom the whiskey is named. The warehouse was built shortly after prohibition and being metal, transfers heat quicker than brick warehouses, allowing for more rapid ageing.

The popularity of these products was particularly high in Japan, coinciding with a market boom for American whiskey there in the 1980s. In 1991, with Age International in some financial trouble, a Japanese company called Takaro Shuzo stepped in and acquired a 22.5% stake in the company. In an unusual series of events, they then scuppered a deal the following year that was to see the remaining shares sold to Heublein (a subsidiary of Grand Metropolitan). Their deal the year before had included a 30 day right of refusal to purchase the shares for themselves should they be put up for sale. With the deal all but done, the Japanese company stepped in on the final day of the window to acquire full control of the company. As it turned out, their only interest was in the brands, and they had used the 30 days to negotiate a deal with the Sazerac Company of  New Orleans. This saw the American company take ownership of the distillery (which they renamed Buffalo Trace in 1999), as well as the exclusive production and US distribution rights for the Age International labels. This is an arrangement that is still in place today.

This is a 2021 bottling.

Since 1999, every bottle of Blanton's has one of 8 different stoppers, each depicting a horse and jockey at a different stage of finishing a race. The designs are all lettered so that a complete set laid out side by side will spell \"BLANTONS.\" 

Please note due to the fragility of Blanton’s bottle seal and packaging, Whisky Auctioneer cannot accept responsibility for any damage and/or leakage during transit.

Ben Nevis 2005 Whisky Sponge 15 Year Old Edition No.29

Distilled in 2005 and bottled in 2021, a single refill hogshead. One of 322 bottles.

Ben Nevis distillery was built by \"Long\" John MacDonald in 1825, and was so popular by the end of the 19th century that at one point the estate employed over 200 people. After a series of closure and re-openings at the beginning of the 20th, it was eventually bought by former Canadian bootlegger, Joseph Hobbs. He installed a coffey still there in 1955, making Ben Nevis Scotland's first dual-operation distillery, and began to blend its malt and grain before filling it to cask. Sporadic closures again followed Hobb's death, with stability finally ensured in 1989 when it was bought by long-term customers, Nikka Whisky of Japan. Its turbulent history means there were few distillery bottlings until the launch of the 10 year old single malt in 1996, but casks had long been making their way to independent labels, and many of them are very highly praised.

Ben Nevis 2005 Whisky Sponge 15 Year Old Edition No.29

Distilled in 2005 and bottled in 2021, a single refill hogshead. One of 322 bottles.

Ben Nevis distillery was built by \"Long\" John MacDonald in 1825, and was so popular by the end of the 19th century that at one point the estate employed over 200 people. After a series of closure and re-openings at the beginning of the 20th, it was eventually bought by former Canadian bootlegger, Joseph Hobbs. He installed a coffey still there in 1955, making Ben Nevis Scotland's first dual-operation distillery, and began to blend its malt and grain before filling it to cask. Sporadic closures again followed Hobb's death, with stability finally ensured in 1989 when it was bought by long-term customers, Nikka Whisky of Japan. Its turbulent history means there were few distillery bottlings until the launch of the 10 year old single malt in 1996, but casks had long been making their way to independent labels, and many of them are very highly praised.

Bowmore Distiller's Collection Miniature 3 x 5cl

A selection of miniatures from Islay's oldest distillery:

• 12 Year Old 40%
• 15 Year Old 43%
• 17 Year Old 43%

Islay’s oldest working distillery, Bowmore was established in 1779 and is now regarded as one of the most popular malts not only on Islay, but in the whole of Scotland. The distillery was acquired by Stanley P. Morrison in 1963, ushering in an era of iconic single malts, including the legendary Black Bowmore, credited by many as the genesis of whisky collecting, bottled in 1993. The distillery was bought under the control Suntory the year after (they had been stakeholders since 1989), and it remains one of the most collectible brands in Scotch whisky today. Bowmore is one of the few remaining Scottish distilleries to use its own floor maltings, providing them with 40% of their requirements.

Ben Bracken 1987 30 Year Old Speyside Single Malt

This single malt was distilled at an undisclosed Speyside distillery in 1987 and matured for 30 years. It was bottled at cask strength by the Clydesdale Scotch Whisky Co, under the popular Ben Bracken label.

Bimber Fino Cask #270120 bottled 2024

The founders of London's Bimber distillery, Dariusz and Ewelina, moved from Poland to the UK in 2003, opening their distillery in the Park Royal area of west London twelve years later. Plazewski inherited his passion for whisky from his grandfather, who also distilled his own spirits. The company’s first casks were laid down on the 26th May 2016, and three years later they released their first single malt in September 2019. This became the first whisky to be distilled and bottled in London for over a century. The distillery carries a “farm-to-bottle” approach by sourcing 100% of its barley from a single producer and using traditional floor maltings and slow fermentation techniques. Distillation takes place via a 1,000-litre wash still and a 600-litre spirit still that were both crafted by Hoga of Spain.

This Bimber whisky was matured in single fino sherry cask #270120 and bottled in December 2024.

One of only 400 bottles.

Bivrost Midgard Ninth Release 50cl

Several distilleries over the years have laid claim to the accolade of the world's most northerly whisky producer. The current flag-bearer, and likely the last, is the Aurora Spirit distillery. It is located within the Arctic Circle, not far from the town of Lyngseidet in Norway. Surrounded by the Lyngen Alps, nearby fjords, and with views of the arctic wilderness and Northern Lights, the setting is truly stunning. As if the environs were not enough, the workings of the distillery are no less intriguing. It was built within a disused NATO Cold War base, and the maturation of its whisky takes place within its network of underground tunnels.

The distillery's spirits are bottled under the Bivrost brand, and this whisky is their ninth release of arctic single malt. The distillery plans to launch its first permanent Bivrost range in 2025, and until then has launched a series of limited editions, two per year, as part of a collectible series based on the nine worlds of Norse mythology. This is the final release.

Titled Midgard, this release comprises whisky distilled in 2018-2020.

The whisky itself was distilled using a wash of pilsner malt, made from Planet and Popino Nordic barley, and was created with water sourced from the distillery's local spring. The spirit was distilled in Aurora Spirit's bespoke copper pot and column still, which produces a new make spirit of 75% ABV after 8 to 10 hours. Maturation takes place in bourbon casks and a variety of Oloroso sherry oak casks, mostly comprised of European oak, with small amounts of American and Spanish oak utilised too.

The release was a total of 6,265 bottles, the first 20 of which were exclusively auctioned here at Whisky Auctioneer though our May 2024 Auction.

Ballantines 21 Year Old Wade Decanter

Currently produced by Pernod-Ricard as part of its Chivas Brothers arm, Ballantine's is one of the top three best-selling blends in the world. The brand's origins date back to 1827 when George Ballantine established a wine and spirits shop in Edinburgh, moving into the whisky blending business in 1865. The flagship Ballantine's Finest was first launched in 1910. Its popularity caught the eye of Canadian distilling giants, Hiram Walker, in 1936. They were cash-rich having capitalised on US prohibition in the previous decade and were looking to make a move into the Scotch industry, also acquiring the Miltonduff and Glenburgie distilleries. Today the Ballantine's name is still so strong that Chivas Brothers market both of their single malts under its brand.

This 21 year old blend is presented in an elegant Wade porcelain decanter with 22 carat gold decoration.

Blair Athol 10 Year Old The Macbeth Collection / Act One - Bloody Sergeant

Blair Athol distillery is one of Scotland's oldest, dating back into the late 18th century. Its modern story begins when it was closed down by Peter Mackenzie in 1932, and was purchased by Arthur Bell & Sons the following year. Distilling recommenced in 1949, and with Blair Athol malt at its heart, Bell's became one of the world's best-selling whiskies. Despite its importance to the blend, Blair Athol was also bottled as a single malt under the Bell's banner in the 1970s and 1980s. New owners, Guinness, were less interested in this when they took over in 1985, but their subsequent iteration, United Distillers, brought a back distillery bottling with the Flora & Fauna release. Despite its popularity, Blair Athol has yet to be bottled under its own single malt brand. Other official bottlings from the Diageo era are very rare too, however the distillery has regularly provided casks to independent companies, many of whom have bottled some exceptional releases.

The Macbeth Series is an extensive collaboration between Livingstone Rare and Elixir Distillers, presenting a vast range of whiskies depicting the story of William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth. Each bottling represents a character in the famous play, and features notes from Dave Broom and illustrations from the revered Quentin Blake. Act One was released in 2023.

This 10 year old Blair Athol was selected to represent the unnamed wounded Sergeant.

One of 2,800 bottles.

Bruichladdich 12 Year Old First Edition

Like its island neighbour Bunnahabhain distillery, Bruichladdich has traditionally been an un-peated single malt, mostly owing to its requirements by the blenders who owned it. The last of these was Whyte & Mackay, who eventually shut it down in 1995, deeming it surplus to requirements. They sold the distillery to Murray McDavid in 2001, who launched the peated Port Charlotte and heavily-peated Octomore single malts in 2006 and 2008. A recommissioned Lomond still also now produces the popular Botanist gin there.

Bunnahabhain Staoisha 2013 Signatory Vintage 11 Year Old Decanter

An austere piece of Victorian architecture on the north-east coast of Islay, Bunnahabhain is a relative outsider on the island, traditionally known for producing an un-peated single malt. The majority of this was used for blending, as was its initial intended purpose. The distillery was shut for 2 years in 1982 following the market downturn of the period, and despite being revived at low production, it was eventually officially bottled as a single malt later that decade, with the self-deprecating tag-line, \"the un-pronounceable malt.\"

Staoisha is a heavily peated single malt from Bunnahabhain, first appearing in heavy numbers on the independent bottling scene in 2019, to some impressive reviews for a young whisky.

This Staoisha was distilled in 2013 and matured in first-fill Oloroso butts for 11 years. It was bottled by Signatory Vintage s part of their Decanter Collection.

Signatory Vintage were established in 1988 by Andrew Symington and are one of Scotland's most prolific independent bottlers. Their offices and bottling facility are located next to Edradour distillery, which they have also owned since 2002.

Bad na h-Achlaise Collection Tuscan Oak

Badachro is a small producer of spirits using local, seasonal, hand picked botanicals. They bottle Scotch whisky under their Bad na h-Achlaise label.

This Highland single malt is a vatting of peated and unpeated spirit, matured in Tuscan oak casks.

Bivrost Midgard Ninth Release 50cl

Several distilleries over the years have laid claim to the accolade of the world's most northerly whisky producer. The current flag-bearer, and likely the last, is the Aurora Spirit distillery. It is located within the Arctic Circle, not far from the town of Lyngseidet in Norway. Surrounded by the Lyngen Alps, nearby fjords, and with views of the arctic wilderness and Northern Lights, the setting is truly stunning. As if the environs were not enough, the workings of the distillery are no less intriguing. It was built within a disused NATO Cold War base, and the maturation of its whisky takes place within its network of underground tunnels.

The distillery's spirits are bottled under the Bivrost brand, and this whisky is their ninth release of arctic single malt. The distillery plans to launch its first permanent Bivrost range in 2025, and until then has launched a series of limited editions, two per year, as part of a collectible series based on the nine worlds of Norse mythology. This is the final release.

Titled Midgard, this release comprises whisky distilled in 2018-2020.

The whisky itself was distilled using a wash of pilsner malt, made from Planet and Popino Nordic barley, and was created with water sourced from the distillery's local spring. The spirit was distilled in Aurora Spirit's bespoke copper pot and column still, which produces a new make spirit of 75% ABV after 8 to 10 hours. Maturation takes place in bourbon casks and a variety of Oloroso sherry oak casks, mostly comprised of European oak, with small amounts of American and Spanish oak utilised too.

The release was a total of 6,265 bottles, the first 20 of which were exclusively auctioned here at Whisky Auctioneer though our May 2024 Auction.