October 2018 Auction

Ardbeg 1974 Samaroli 15 Year Old

One of two releases of a 1974 vintage Ardbeg bottled for Silvano Samaroli. At 240 bottles, this is the much rarer of the two.

Samaroli is perhaps Italy's most revered independent bottler of Scotch whisky. With an impeccable taste in single cask whiskies, and an eye for aesthetics (if not English spelling at times!), he is regarded by many as a visionary. Many of his bottles now occupy deserved sports in pantheon of whisky greats.

This bottling was bottled for Samaroli in Scotland by R.W. Duthie & Co. in 1990, and is bottle number 127.

Ardbeg 1973 Samaroli / Fragments of Scotland

Distilled in 1973 and bottled in 1988 by Silvano Samaroli as part of the rare Fragments of Scotland series.

Samaroli is perhaps Italy's most revered independent bottler of Scotch whisky. With an impeccable taste in single cask whiskies, and an eye for aesthetics (if not English spelling at times!), he is regarded by many as a visionary. Many of his bottles now occupy deserved sports on the pantheon of whisky greats.

The Fragments of Scotland series was bottled in 1988, and each of them feature artworks depicting different elements of Scotland, all painted by Samaroli's friend, Agostino Perrnini. The painting on this particular label belonged to Silvano, and also appears on the Glen Garioch and Glenugie bottlings.

Although the distillery is not mentioned on the label, it is well known as an Ardbeg.

Bottle number 103 of only 648.

Yamazaki 25 Year Old Limited Edition

A limited edition of around 100 bottles celebrating Japanese hospitality. This whisky has been matured for 25 years in the finest Oloroso sherry casks.

This limited edition bottling is decorated with a five-cord 'Mizuhiki', which symbolises the joining of hands and hearts of the giver and recipient. 

Ardbeg 1975 Intertrade 13 Year Old 

A stunning vintage Ardbeg, distilled on 9th October 1975 and bottled at cask strength on 30th July 1989 for Intertrade Italia.

Intertrade was established in Italy in the early 1980s by Nadi Fiori, a contemporary of Silvano Samaroli and Moon Import's Pepi Mongiardino. His company is perhaps less well known than theirs, but bottled some of the most well-regarded and collectible whiskies on the market.

Bottle number 161 of 288. 

Yamazaki 25 Year Old

As we all know, Yamazaki has ascended into the position of one of the most desirable and sought after whiskies in the world.

This 25 year old is matured exclusively in the finest Oloroso sherry casks and presented in a very elegant, simple box.

Bottle number 10937.

Ardbeg 1974 Single Cask 29 Year Old #2740

A single cask Ardbeg filled on 14th June 1974 and bottled at cask strength 29 years later, on the 11th August 2003

Cask #2740 yielded only 120 bottles. This is bottle number 17.

Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara Oak 2017 Edition

An 18 year old malt from the oldest whisky distillery in Japan. In order to create the expression, Suntory’s chief blender Shinji Fukuyo tasted a hundreds of mizunara-matured whiskies and selected casks with varying ages.

Mizunara oak is incredibly rare.

Ardbeg 1975 Single Cask #1375

This whisky was distilled on 28^th March 1975 and matured in a sherry butt before being bottled on 8^th November 2006.  This 31 year old has become a rarity as single cask Ardbeg has become beyond rare.

This is bottle number 191 of 522 bottles.

Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara Oak 2017 Edition

An 18 year old malt from the oldest whisky distillery in Japan. In order to create the expression, Suntory’s chief blender Shinji Fukuyo tasted hundreds of mizunara-matured whiskies and selected casks with varying ages.

Mizunara oak is incredibly rare, expensive and difficult to cooper into casks, hence why it is used so sparingly.

Yamazaki 1998 Single Cask #CU70066​

Single cask Yamazaki are very rare and hard to find these days.

This was distilled in 1998 and matured in sherry butt #CU70066 until bottling in 2012.

Bottle number 172.

Yoichi 1987 SMWS 26 Year Old 116.20

A SMWS bottling of Yoichi, distilled on 7th November 1987 and bottled after 26 years in 2014.

This bottling is titled \"Fascinating Complexity and Finesse\".

Matured in a virgin oak puncheon and limited to 452 bottles.

Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2016

Matured in Oloroso sherry casks, aged between 12 and 15 years old and even 25 years old, blended together with older single malt stock by chief blender Shinji Fukuyo.

This bottling is the follow up to the famous 2013 release which won 'Best Whisky in the World' according to Jim Murray and his Whisky Bible.

5000 bottles were produced which is less than third of the quantity of the previous release of Yamazaki Sherry Cask, of which there were approximately 16,000 bottles.

Ardbeg 1975 Douglas Laing 25 Year Old

A very rare independent bottling from Islay's famous Ardbeg distillery.

This was distilled in 1975 and bottled in October 2000 by Douglas Laing, part of their Old Malt Cask series.

This is one of 702 bottles.

Yoichi 1987 SMWS 26 Year Old 116.20

A SMWS bottling of Yoichi, distilled on 7th November 1987 and bottled after 26 years in 2014.

This bottling is titled \"Fascinating Complexity and Finesse\".

Matured in a virgin oak puncheon and limited to 452 bottles.

Ardbeg 1965 Gordon and MacPhail 15 Year Old / Co. Pinerolo Import

A very old vintage of Ardbeg bottled by Gordon & MacPhail as part of their Connoisseurs Choice series.

Distilled in 1965, matured for 15 years and imported to Italy by Co. Import, Pinerolo.

Ardbeg 1964 Gordon and MacPhail

A very old bottling of Ardbeg by Gordon and MacPhail, distilled in 1964 and bottled in 1996, a fantastic, rare and old vintage.

Yamazaki 2000 Single Casks / Whisky Shop 3rd Anniversary

A Yamazaki distilled in 2000 aged in a Spanish oak sherry butt and bottled in 2013 for the 3rd Anniversary of the Whisky Shop. 

Yamazaki 12 Year Old Cask Strength Barrel Decanter 1 Litre

A fun barrel-shaped decanter containing a whole litre of 12 year old Yamazaki, bottled at 58%. 

Ardbeg 1973 Sestante 15 Year Old

One of two very rare Ardbeg's bottled by the famous Italian bottler, Sestante. 

Only very rarely will you find Ardbeg from this period these days, it is well worth investigating these older bottlings, even more so when they are from bottlers such as Sestante.

The Sestante import company was founded in the 1970s by Ernesto Mainardi, and he bottled his first single casks under the name in 1985. Alongside his contemporary, Silvano Samaroli, Mainardi pioneered giving his customers a choice of both standard 40-46% bottlings, and cask strength releases from the same casks. Along with his other brand, Silver Seal, Mainardi's bottlings are incredibly sought after.

Bottled in 1988.

Ardbeg 1973 Sestante 15 Year Old

One of two very rare Ardbeg's bottled by the famous Italian bottler, Sestante. 

Only very rarely will you find Ardbeg from this period these days, it is well worth investigating these older bottlings, even more so when they are from bottlers such as Sestante.

The Sestante import company was founded in the 1970s by Ernesto Mainardi, and he bottled his first single casks under the name in 1985. Alongside his contemporary, Silvano Samaroli, Mainardi pioneered giving his customers a choice of both standard 40-46% bottlings, and cask strength releases from the same casks. Along with his other brand, Silver Seal, Mainardi's bottlings are incredibly sought after.

Bottled in 1988.

Ardbeg 1974 Signatory Vintage 24 Year Old

A single vintage Ardbeg from Signatory Vintage.

Distilled on Islay on the 22nd March 1974, and bottled in April 1998 from casks #622 and #1034.

Bottle number 78 of 362 filled at cask strength.

Yamazaki Mizunara Cask 2013

Yamazaki has been thrust into the spot light after their Sherry Cask release of 2013 received the title of Best Whisky in the World title from Jim Murray.  

They have released several other limited annual editions including this Mizunara matured bottling.    

Mizunara (Japanese Oak) is famous for imparting it's own characteristics onto the whisky stored within them such as sandalwood and other notes.  

Ardbeg 1974 Signatory Vintage 23 Year Old

A single cask Ardbeg from Signatory Vintage.

Distilled on Islay on the 22nd March 1974, and bottled in December 1997 from cask #1042.

Bottle number 13 of 206 filled at cask strength.

Yamazaki 2003 SMWS 11 Year Old 119.14

\"Raspberry Imperial Stout\"

Distilled in April 2003 and then matured for 11 years in a 1st Fill Spanish \"Bota Corta\" Sherry Cask.

One of 538 bottles.

Ardbeg Auriverdes Gold Edition

This shiny Ardbeg Auriverdes, launched on 31st May 2014 on 'Ardbeg Day' which coincides with the 'Ardbeg Day' with the Islay Festival.  

A very rare bottle, this Auriverdes was never made available to the public, it was only given to journalists, bloggers and distillery ambassadors before the official release at the end of May 2014.

The Auriverdes (Auri = Gold and Verdes = Green) is named after the Brazilian sports teams colours (Brazil hosted the World Cup in 2014) whilst also referring to Ardbeg's iconic green bottle and the 'golden' whisky inside.  

Yoichi 20 Year Old

An older version of the now discontinued 20 year old from Yoichi distillery.

A.H. Hirsch Reserve 1974 16 Year Old Bourbon / 2003 Release

A legendary bottle of bourbon that has had a whole book written about itself: The Best Bourbon You'll Never Taste by Charles K Cowdery.

Distilled in Spring 1974, this bourbon is bottled from a single 400 barrel batch commissioned by Adolph Hirsch and distilled under contract at Michter's distillery (then known as Pennco), just outside Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania. Hirsch was a former Schenley executive who had briefly worked at Michter's during his time there, and it is believed he commissioned the whisky as financial favour to the distillery, and actually had little plans for its use. So, it lay ageing in the warehouses for much longer than generally expected for a bourbon at the time. 

With the closure of Michter's distillery, the bourbon was sold by Hirsch to Gordon Hue in 1989, who set about bottling it immediately.

Responsibility for the early bottling was entrusted to Julian Van Winkle III at his Old Commonwealth site in Lawrenceburg. However, his partnership with the Sazerac Company and creation of the Pappy Van Winkle brand in 2002, also saw bottling of the Hirsch Reserve moved briefly to Buffalo Trace. This is one of the Buffalo Trace bottles, filled in 2003 for the new owners of the Hirsch Reserve, Preiss Imports, who purchased it from Gordon Hue that year.

Preiss Imports moved the subsequent and final bottling (technically re-bottling) to Kentucky Bourbon Distillers' Willett facility.

In his book Cowdery refers to the bourbon as one of the \"best whiskeys I've ever tasted.\"

Mash bill contains 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malted barley.

70cl UK bottle.

Ardbeg Guaranteed 30 Year Old 

This 'Guaranteed' 30 year old Ardbeg was one of the last releases by Allied distillers before Glenmorangie's Takeover in 1997.This release of 30 year old Ardbeg was limited to only 29 casks.

The Ardbeg Distillery lies on the most Southernly part of Islay and on the rugged shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

Ardbeg is revered around the world as the peatiest, smokiest, most complex whisky of them all. Yet it does not flaunt the peat: rather the peat gives way to the malt, the natural sweetness of which subtly intrudes, producing perfect balance.

Ardbeg 2005 Single Cask #1321

Distilled on 1st April 2005 and matured until being bottled on 3rd April 2018 as a 13 year old. 

Matured in Oloroso sherry butt #1321. 

Bottle number 388 of 543. 

Ardbeg 25 Year Old Lord of the Isles

A highly sought after and iconic Ardbeg, released between 2002 and 2007.

Named after the 'Lord of the Isles' who ruled the Western Isles and parts of Argyll between the 12th and 15th Centuries.

Ardbeg 25 Year Old Lord of the Isles

A highly sought after and iconic Ardbeg, released between 2002 and 2007.

Named after the 'Lord of the Isles' who ruled the Western Isles and parts of Argyll between the 12th and 15th Century. 

Batch L3. 

Ardbeg 2000 Lord Robertson Single Cask #1217

A very rare bottling of Ardbeg bottled to commemorate Lord Robertson of Islay, a former Nato Secretary General.  

Cask #1217 was filled on 27th April 2000 when Lord Robertson visited the legendary Islay distillery.

This cask was donated to his charity, Erskine, which provides nursing and medical care for former members of the British Armed Forces.

This is bottle number 74 of 202.