A few days ago, auction house Sotheby’s released its 2024 Wine & Spirits Market Report, and the news was not great. Overall, auction sales dropped about 30 percent to $114 million, compared to $159 million the previous year. Despite this downturn in high-end spirits auction sales, there were some bright spots: Bottles from Speyside scotch distillery the Macallan and Japanese ghost distillery Karuizawa continued to hold their value and sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
According to the report, wine and spirits auction sales were held across 10 countries yielding a total of $114 million in revenue, which included Sotheby’s first wine and spirits auction in Geneva, Switzerland. The U.S. took the lead in terms of number of bidders, and, as mentioned before, scotch and Japanese whisky topped the charts in value. Karuizawa, a dormant distillery that was recently revived (at least in name), was the number one seller of the year—a single cask bottling of a 1952 vintage whisky sold for $372,684 in Hong Kong. Overall, Karuizawa represented 17 percent of Sotheby’s auctions, while the Macallan squeaked by at 18 percent and Chinese baijiu brand Kweichow Moutai came in third with 15 percent. A bottle of the Reach, an 81-year-old Macallan single malt, sold for more than $250,000, followed by the Red Collection 60 Year Old at $172,405. Another revered Japanese whisky, Yamazaki 55, made an appearance at auction with the second most valuable sale at $337,589. And, of course, Pappy Van Winkle was present on the list as well, with 12 bottles of single barrel 20 Year Old Family Reserve selling for $162,000.
If you’ve been following the world of high-end spirits auctions, news about a downturn in auction sales might not come as a surprise. In December, The New York Times reported that Sotheby’s laid off more than 100 of its employees around the world, the equivalent of about 6 percent of its workforce. According to the Times, despite receiving $1 billion cash from Abu Dhabi wealth fund and investment company ADQ, auction sales have reportedly been slumping and the company is trying to improve its financial outlook. There have been mixed reports over the past year or so about the state of sales of high-end whisky and other spirits, but overall it seems like many people are choosing to go with lower-priced brands that they are more familiar with, not to mention the uncertainty that the Trump administration’s back and forth about tariffs has brought to the market. We will continue to update you on the situation as the year progresses.
