I saw a funny thing the other day. Or perhaps it was a scary thing: the Bonham’s auction results. I’m not going to beat up on Bonham’s this time, but the high bidders are going to take a hit. Scotch, and more recently, American whiskey prices are climbing for some reasons that are legitimate, and others that involve speculation and idiocy. I see a lot of bottles sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars and prices from store to store vary a lot. Now if you can save five bucks on Jack Daniel’s by driving 10 miles, you probably won’t bother; but if you’re searching for a 1955 Glen Ambrosia , then perhaps you should sniff the air before dropping your money like a teenager in Tijuana.
I’ve collected some pretty bad rookie mistakes from the recent Bonham’s, New York auction. Keep in mind that auction or private sale prices should always be less than retail. Note: European VAT removed.
Macallan Anniversary 25 year old Retail: $1099 – Holiday Wine Cellar Bonhams: $1428 |
Balvenie 1971- 33 year old Retail: $720 – Sendliquor.com Bonhams: $833 |
Macallan Select Reserve 1946- 52 year old  Retail: $4016 – Lion’s Whisky Bonham’s: $7735 |
| Glen Grant 1958- 49 year old | Springbank 25 yr- Millennium
Bonham’s: $1011
|
Bowmore Bicentenary 1964 Retail: $1596 – John Gordons Wine Bonham’s: $3094 |
Mind you it did not take me long to find the retail prices. The internet is a marvelous thing. The world is interconnected, so use it. I’m not sure how many specialized drink “searchers” there are out there, but my friends and I use http://www.wine-searcher.com/, and spring for the Pro version. Search anywhere in the world immediately. Cripes, this sounds like an ad but it’s not. If you buy whisky and value your money, use it or something like it.TIPS
• For Americans, some of the big shops like The Whisky Exchange, Royal Mile, Master of Malt, and WhiskyBase will remove the 17% VAT and ship overseas. Some smaller shops won’t remove VAT or won’t accept credit cards. Also, bottles are 50mL smaller in Europe than the US. It’s a 7% penalty but often worth it.
• For Americans, some of the big shops like The Whisky Exchange, Royal Mile, Master of Malt, and WhiskyBase will remove the 17% VAT and ship overseas. Some smaller shops won’t remove VAT or won’t accept credit cards. Also, bottles are 50mL smaller in Europe than the US. It’s a 7% penalty but often worth it.
• Don’t assume that a shop with traditionally bad prices won’t have good deals. The whisky shop near my home has some prices that make me laugh, except when wine-searcher.com finds a bottle that’s the best price in the world. That makes me happy.
• If an online shop lists in checkout that they are out of stock and can restock in 3 days, then forget about it. They’ll never get that Laphroaig 40 in stock again, no matter what they say.
• The best gauge in the world for current whisky prices is whisky-auction.com. Their “past auctions” search is difficult to use but the data is golden.
Please, please, please don’t be an idiot and drive up prices; unless of course it’s with a bottle I’m trying to sell myself. In fact I think I might auction off that Macallan 1946 I’ve been sitting on for a long time. I just hope that Lion’s Whisky can ship it to Bonham’s before the next auction starts.