The growing appetite for rare whisky miniatures seems to be matching that of larger bottles after 5CL of one of the world's rarest single malt whiskies sold for £6,670 during an online auction. The small bottle of Malt Mill, a tiny Islay distillery which only produced for just over 50 years, was sold during a sale by the online auction house Whisky.Auction, setting a new record.
The 10-year-old whisky was produced at the tiny distillery on the grounds of the larger Lagavulin Distillery on Islay, and was only produced between 1908 and 1962. Much sought-after, it's shrouded in a little mystery and intrigue, for it was never bottled as a single malt, but rather used for blends.
Speaking about Malt Mill, whisky expert and historian Nicholas Morgan said: “Is this the rarest bottle of whisky in the world? A genuine taste of antiquity? An insight into what whisky tasted like not just fifty years ago, or a hundred years ago, but in the style of the mid-nineteenth century that made, as Peter Mackie said in 1908, ‘highland whisky famous.’
"A taste of something that only a handful of other people have enjoyed. And something that will never, ever, be repeated. That’s not as common as muck. That’s real rare.”
To confirm the authenticity of a bottle of Malt Mill, there was a large amount of research led by the Whisky.Auction team into its ownership, origins and provenance.
Each of the bottles that appear on the market are likely samples from an ex-employee or, in reality, a bottle acquired by a local pub landlord, and so, are desired by many around the world for their elusiveness.
The purchaser of this valuable Malt Mill miniature however, isn’t sure it’ll be opened for tasting, they said: “It is exciting! I'm not sure I’ll ever drink it though. The description from Serge Valentin et al is good enough for me. Rather I'll hang onto it for a few years and feel proud to own it.”
At the same auction, a 5CL bottle of Springbank 1919 also sold for a record price for that distillery, reaching the incredible figure of £7,360 showing the real thirst for products from this ever-popular Campbeltown Distillery.
This particular bottle is labelled as bottle ‘No. 2’ and features a Certificate of Authenticity, serving as extra proof of its provenance.
The Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown, where traditional hands-on production results in a smaller output than most, has built a global reputation for quality whisky much revered by whisky lovers, in particular these rare early releases.
Speaking about the miniature sales, Whisky.Auction director Isabel Graham-Yooll said: “The prices achieved on these two very rare miniatures is exciting but perhaps not unexpected given the rarity of these whiskies. Much of the liquid we see coming to auction in miniatures is simply unavailable in full bottles, having been consumed many years before.
"Miniatures often outlive their full-size counterparts in ‘souvenir’ style. And sometimes, the liquid is so scarce that only miniatures ever existed.”
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