Wines & Spirits

Old Master portraits dealer Mark Weiss tells us about his love for another kind of vintage. His collection leads our special report on the wine, whisky and spirits market.

A Chateau De Pomès Pédérère Armagnac distilled in 1950 is estimated at £200-300 at McTear’s Rare & Fine Whisky Auction on December 16.

Irish auction house Victor Mee (19% buyer’s premium) holds regular sale of pub memorabilia and collectables but the online-only October 5-6 offering was on another level.

In its Whisky & Spirits sale on December 9, Lyon & Turnbull offers a number of 1960s Macallan whiskies including this 1962 The Macallan Gordon MacPhail 100 proof.

The oldest bottle released from The Macallan Distillery – and the oldest age statement whisky ever offered at auction – has sold for a premium-inclusive £756,400 in London.

Henry Adams in West Sussex will hold The December Auctions Fine Wines & Spirits sale on December 17.

Pouring wine at the table from a standardised machine-made bottle is a relatively new custom. For centuries before the Victorian era, wine was typically bought and stored in the barrel and decanted into bottles or jugs only before use at the table.

In the wake of record auction prices – the first £1m bottle of whisky and a $500,000 bottle of wine – four auction specialists discuss the lively market for fine and rare wines and whisky. A potted history of wine-related antiques follows. First up: Richard Brierley of Forum Auctions and Sam Hellyer of Chiswick Auctions on the wine market.

In the wake of record auction prices – the first £1m bottle of whisky and a $500,000 bottle of wine – four auction specialists discuss the lively market for fine and rare wines and whisky. Here, two whisky specialists outline the market trends: Graeme Maxwell of McTear's and Mark Littler, independent antiques and whisky broker.

Forum Auctions is expanding into the wine and spirits market with the purchase of the assets of Bid for Wine from Stanley Gibbons.

The season, the spirit in question and the location of the sale put this bottle of Lagavulin whisky, below, into the spotlight.