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!

	Yamazaki 12 Year Old Japanese Single Malt Whisky
	70cl / 43% - One of the first Japanese single malts to break into the UK market, Suntory's Yamazaki 12 Year Old continues to impress with its well-balanced fruity sweetness, something that appeals to novice and experienced whisky drinkers alike.
Slightly Underpriced	135 GBP Shop Price at The Whisky Exchange
	150 GBP Estimated Market Value

	Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve Japanese Single Malt Whisky
	70cl / 43% - A fresh and fruity whisky from Yamazaki, full of red fruit and a touch of sherry cask. It's also got some mizunara (Japanese oak) matured whisky in the mix, which comes through as a complex spicy and almost incense-like note. A well put together and deep dram.
Fair Priced	70 GBP Shop Price at The Whisky Exchange
	75 GBP Estimated Market Value

Further Readings

The Whiskystats Portrait of Brora

With this article we introduce a new category to our board, the Whiskystats Portraits. Here we have a closer look at single segments of the market. Starting off this new series is Brora, an already closed distillery from the northern highlands. 

Track the value of your Whiskies on Whiskystats

As a member of whiskystats.net you cannot only browse our database for single bottle price-evolutions but create your very own personal collection. In this article we will show you how to manage and keep track of the value of your whiskies. 

The Whiskystats Shop Monitor

The number of whiskies available online is ever-increasing and digital price-tags are changing rapidly too. By evaluating those shop prices under current secondary market conditions we provide to you a very rational approach for identifying the best offers.