The Whiskystats Price Update for March 2017

The latest round of auctions saw our database reach some new milestones. The Macallan Boutique Collection 2016 is by far the most traded whisky of this month. Meanwhile Bunnahabhain bottlings continue to gain value!

With 4.916 observed trades, March 2017 was the most active whisky auction month since November 2016. What makes this month special for us is that the number of whiskies we track finally climbed over 20.000! In detail our whisky database now contains 20.433 different scotch and japanese single malt bottlings. In addition we now have over quarter of a million (!) price observations for these whiskies. The exact number of trades we documented in our database is 251.162. This means, that on average we have 12,3 observed trades per whisky.
 
After its four months of constant growth, our Whiskystats Whisky Index (WWI) lost 2,3% and now stands at 317,7 index points. Compared to March 2016, the value of the 300 most traded single malt whiskies increased by 14,5%. Furthermore, since February 2015 the WWI lost value in only 6 months, so on average only every fourth month.
By the way, this month´s price observations didn’t contain any prices from Bonhams. Hence, they solely come from UK-based ScotchWhiskyAuction.com and german-based WhiskyAuction.com.

Bunnahabhain on the Rise

A glance at our monthly updated distillery ranking unveils that Bunnahabhain seems to be one of the winners of this month. The 100 most traded Bunnahabhain bottlings gained 1,7% on their price tag this month.
A look at our Bunnahabhain distillery index shows us that this is the fifth month in a row where these bottlings gained value. Compared to three years ago (March 2014), the prices climbed by almost 27%. In this period these bottlings only really lost value in late 2015 and early 2016.

Most Traded

Another Macallan sets off to become a new auction favourite. The Macallan Boutique Collection 2016 was traded 57 times in March 2017 alone. It first appeared on auctions in January 2017, from where we have one price observations for 524 Euros. The prices in February 2017 ranged from 271 to 355 Euros. The latest 57 prices from March averaged to 244 Euros, which is less than half of the initial price from January 2017. This pattern is nothing new to us at all. There are many bottlings for which we observed ridiculously high trades in the first month of their appearance on auctions.
The other most traded whiskies of the month are used to be seen on this list. The Yamazaki Limited Edition 2016 was traded 43 times. In total we observed 216 trades since June 2016 of this japanese single malt whisky. Thereby, prices fell from around 250 Euros to a little above 150 Euros. A true UK-favourite is the Glenmorangie Midwinters Dram since all the 271 trades we observed come from ScotchWhiskyAuctions.com. The price tag for this Highland scotch single malt now stands at around 50 Euros.

The Macallan/Speyside set-back

Our Indices of the Speyside region and the Macallan distillery are closely related since many of the most traded Speyside bottlings come from Macallan. Hence, it is of no surprise that a set-back of the Macallan index leads to a set-back of the Speyside index. The 100 most traded Macallans lost almost 6,3% in value this month after they constantly gained in value since December 2015.
Simultaneously the 100 most traded Speyside bottlings lost 4,1% in value as the index now resides at 331 index points. Both, the Macallan and the Speyside index. saw their peaks last month in February 2017. We wonder if the Macallan-rally continues after this break or if the party is officially over.
 
As always, do not forget to check the latest value of your personal collections!

	Macallan 18 Year Old Double Cask / 2020 Release Speyside Whisky
	70cl / 43% / Distillery Bottling - Made by blending 18-year-old whisky from European and American oak casks, both of which are seasoned with sherry, this is a warming, sweet single malt and the pinnacle of Macallan's Double Cask range.
Fair Priced	250 GBP Shop Price at The Whisky Exchange
	240 GBP Estimated Market Value

	Bunnahabhain 18 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
	70cl / 46.3% / Distillery Bottling - This is the relaunched version of Bunnahabhain 18yo, having ditched the caramel colouring and chill-filtration and upped the strength to 46.3%. A triumph for 'naturalist' whisky drinkers.
Fair Priced	120 GBP Shop Price at The Whisky Exchange
	115 GBP Estimated Market Value

	Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban 14 Year Old / Port Finish Highland Whisky
	70cl / 46% / Distillery Bottling - A full-bodied, silky-smooth single malt from Glenmorangie, finished in a Quinta Ruban port cask, creating a rich chocolate flavour. Gentle aromas of Seville oranges and walnut build into rich dark chocolate, sandalwood and spicy pepper. The palate initially offers notes of mint chocolate, walnuts and orange develop into Turkish delight and summer flowers.
Fair Priced	51 GBP Shop Price at The Whisky Exchange
	55 GBP Estimated Market Value

Further Readings

Your first steps as a Whiskystats-Member

By being a Member of Whiskystats you gain access to our Whisky Database and various tools to analyse the secondary whiskymarket. In this article we will guide you through your first steps as a Whiskystats-Member. 

The Whiskystats Annual Report of 2016 (I/II)

The secondary whisky market year of 2016 was record-breaking in many ways. Never before did we observe so many trades. Never before was the volume of cash involved higher. This is the first part of the Whiskystats round-up of the year that was. 

Kavalan on Whiskystats

We finally bring light to another dark spot on the secondary whisky market map as we start tracking prices for Kavalan too. However, it seems like this asian distillery struggles to gain the full attention of the whisky collectors around the world.