Sotheby’s First Live Auction of American Whiskey at the Breuer Could Set New Category Highs

The success of Sotheby’s move to capitalize on the dynamic market for collectibles was evident in its end-of-year figures, with its luxury division up 22 percent to $2.7 billion in 2025. The redesign of its main regional headquarters in Hong Kong, Paris and now the landmark Breuer Building into “Another World” of luxury was a part of the strategy. Conceived as a boutique experience, each new headquarters’ spatial storytelling and cross-category showcasing are designed to extend the auction house’s reach by attracting a more diverse set of audiences at different price points and enhancing the symbolic value of the brand and its offerings beyond art connoisseurship.

Rare spirits, particularly wine and whiskey, have emerged as one of the strongest-performing categories, proving especially effective at attracting first-time bidders, often younger collectors and buyers from emerging geographies such as the Middle East, India and the broader APAC region. Later this month, on Jan. 24 at the Breuer location, Sotheby’s will offer the most valuable collection of its kind ever to come to market in its first-ever live, single-owner American whiskey auction. Estimated between $1.17 million and $1.68 million, The Great American Whiskey sale includes 360 bottles from a meticulously curated private holding, auctioned across 320 lots. “The value, quality and rarity of these bottles are unparalleled,” Zev Glesta, Sotheby’s Whiskey Specialist and AVP, said in a statement. “This is not just a great American whiskey collection—it is the collection, bringing together the very finest examples ever produced. Each bottle tells a story, captures a moment in history and preserves the lineage of a craft that continues to grow and evolve today.”

This remarkable whiskey collection reflects years of dedicated collecting and stands as a testament to the history, artistry and technical knowledge of some of the most revered producers. This is particularly evident in the Van Winkle selection, which includes a group of exceptional lots representing the strongest expression of the brand’s heritage and lineage ever presented at auction. Ranked among the most prized and valuable American whiskeys in existence, many of the Van Winkle single-barrel selections—bottled for Sam’s, Binny’s, Blue Smoke, Delilah’s and Old Advocate—were produced in extremely limited quantities and largely consumed immediately, leaving only a handful of rare surviving examples.

Among them is an old Rip Van Winkle 20 Year Old Single Barrel “Sam’s” (1982, 133.4 proof), one of only 60 bottles produced and bottled exclusively for Sam’s Wines & Spirits in Chicago as the highest-proof Van Winkle ever released, offered by Sotheby’s with an estimate of $70,000-100,000. Also auctioned the same evening will be another exclusive single-barrel bottling, a Van Winkle 18 Year Old “Binny’s” (1985, 121.6 proof), estimated at $60,000-80,000, alongside a Very Very Old Fitzgerald “Blackhawk” 18 Year Old, privately bottled by the American Whiskies for the Wirtz family of Chicago Blackhawks fame, carrying an estimate of $50,000-80,000.

Another top lot of the sale will be four LeNell’s Red Hook Rye barrels, among the most celebrated rye whiskeys in the world. Each barrel is estimated at $24,000-35,000, with 852 bottles existing across all four barrels. The collection also features historic Old Fitzgerald Blackhawk bottlings and rarities from Buffalo Trace, Michter’s and Wild Turkey, which stand not only as rare testimonies of craftsmanship but also as historical symbols within the whiskey community.

According to Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s Global Head of Whiskey & Spirits, the collection is a testament to the collectability of truly rare bourbon and rye whiskey. “Never before have we witnessed a collection of such sought-after bottles come to market from a single owner,” he said in a statement, noting that this is not only the most valuable American whiskey collection ever to be offered at auction, but also the most meticulously curated, featuring some of the hardest-to-find bottles in the industry. “This collection is truly a first in the world of American whiskey,” he added.

Sotheby’s continues to hold the record for the most expensive whiskey ever sold at auction: a Valerio Adami–labeled 60-Year-Old from the Macallan Distillery, auctioned in London in November 2023 for $2.7 million (£2.2 million), nearly double its high estimate. (The most expensive ever sold is a 30-year-old bottle of The Emerald Isle from The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. sold to collector Mike Daley for $2.8 million.) Multiple Macallan 1926 bottles have since sold in the high six-figure to low seven-figure range in 2024 and 2025 auctions, with many achieving prices between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, depending on label, condition and provenance.

While the whiskey auction market, after a significant boom between 2016 and 2022, experienced a sharp correction from 2023 to 2024, renewed momentum in collectible spirits—whiskeys in particular—is evident in recent auction results. Last October, Sotheby’s charity sale, Distillers One of One, held at Hopetoun House near Edinburgh, totaled $3.9 million, including buyers’ premiums, with $3.1 million donated to the Youth Action Fund to support training and education programs in Scotland. Thirty new whiskey records were set during the single sale, led by the Glenlivet SPIRA 1965 60-Year-Old, which sold for $693,682, a house record for the distillery. According to Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report, in the decade leading up to 2025, rare whiskey prices have soared 192 percent—and that excludes the downturn that began in 2022.

Recent results point to a period of recovery following the boom-and-bust cycle, and some experts see this as an opportune moment to begin collecting. As Simon Aron of Cask Trade noted in Money Week, prices for some casks—particularly new-make whiskey, the spirit just entered into cask—are currently “unbelievable.” He points to Tormore barrels priced at £1,995 as an example of strong value in new-make whiskey, as well as a three-year-old cask of Glenburgie at £2,750 for collectors seeking something slightly more mature.

Meanwhile, in the rare wine market, Setting Wines 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon (6 liters) holds the record for the most expensive wine ever sold at auction, achieving $1 million in November 2021 at the Emeril Lagasse Foundation charity sale. The previous record had been set by Sotheby’s, with a 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti fetching $558,000 (£422,801; €481,976) including premium in New York on October 13, 2018—seventeen times its original $32,000 estimate.

Another notable single-owner sale, The Cellar of William I. Koch: The Great American Collector, held at Christie’s New York in June 2025, achieved $28.8 million, marking the highest such sale in North America. The auction was led by a 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Methuselah (6 liters), which sold for $275,000.

Returning to spirits, The Great American Whiskey sale could set new benchmarks in the category. The auction will be part of Visions of America, a week-long auction and event series celebrating American art, objects and innovation in the lead-up to the nation’s 250th anniversary—another play that could further deepen Sotheby’s engagement with the broader market.

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