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!

	Glenmorangie Bacalta Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
	70cl / 46% / Distillery Bottling - Bacalta is the eight release in Glenmorangie's annual Private Edition series. Finished in casks which were seasoned with Malmsey Madeira, this is rich and fruity with notes of caramelised apricots, dates, almonds and honeycomb.
Heavily Underprized	79 GBP Shop Price at The Whisky Exchange
	115 GBP Estimated Market Value

	Macallan 10 Year Old / Sherry Oak Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
	70cl / 40% / Distillery Bottling - Matured exclusively in oak sherry casks from Spain, Macallan 10yo is a deep, rich, deliciously smooth and well-rounded flavour with a slight sweetness and touch of sherry and wood. Its deep colour is achieved wholly naturally without the addition of any colouring.
Fair Prized	199 GBP Shop Price at The Whisky Exchange
	210 GBP Estimated Market Value

	Bunnahabhain 1989 / 27 Year Old / Whisky Agency / TWE Islay Whisky
	70cl / 44.9% / The Whisky Agency - Delicate and complex, this long-aged Bunnahabhain will delight any fan of unpeated Islay whisky. Mineral, seaside notes are joined by red fruits and raspberry, enlivened with just a touch of lemon. The definition of restrained elegance.
Fair Prized	235 GBP Shop Price at The Whisky Exchange
	220 GBP Estimated Market Value

Further Readings

The Whiskystats Price Update for October 2016

We are heading towards that time of the year in which the secondary whisky market is the most active. Some Feis Ile bottlings dominated this round of auctions in terms of traded bottles, while a 12yo Speyburn continues to achieve astonishing prices. 

The Whiskystats Price Update for June 2019

The Islay price race came to an abrupt halt. Aside from one exception, all our top 15 distillery indices lost ground this month. A Game of Thrones release continues to be the most traded whisky on the market. Late but great, our Price Update for June 2019! 

The Whiskystats Price Update for January 2020

Hanyu and Karuizawa swap places, again. Our Islay index gained strongly while Speyside keeps struggling and some old Springbanks reappeared on the market. Here is our first Price Update of the decade!