Whisky Auction in Canada

@Lars - Yes, I was there in person and it was thrilling. Wayne Johnston, Sally Gordon (great-niece of Janet Sheed Roberts) and everyone involved with the auction were absolutely delighted. It was a wonderful evening!

@talexander Was that the only whisky auctioned that night? I have never been to a whisky auction have made it to a few other auctions however, it's fun to watch and see the money(bidding) flying around. Its sounds like it was a great time wish I could have been there.

@Lars The auction was over two days - Friday night was a dinner (which was incredible), followed by the auction - the only whisky that night was the Glenfiddich, plus many wine lots. Then Saturday was day 2 (10am start) - the vast majority of lots were wine but in the middle were a few lots of single malt Scotches. I was luck enough to win 2 lots (of 2 bottles each) - 2 bottles I got on behalf of friends, and 2 I'm keeping for myself! So am now the proud owner of an Ardbeg 1977 and the 3rd release of Port Ellen (1979, 24 years old) - both of which I got for very resonable prices.

@talexander, that's incredible enjoy your purchases. I kinda wish were had those types of auctions here in Manitoba but I live in the land of the frugal and we certainly do not have the population base to draw from that Ontario has. I don't think at this stage the MLCC would consider an auction, most likely be a money loser for them but whisky is becoming slowly more popular here so maybe in the future.

@talexander

Hello Alexander,

Would you mind tell me how much you paid for each bottle including the tax and auction fee?

I did consider sell some of my bottles through LCBO. However, I feel that the system does not favour the seller as the buyers always have to consider the 30% extra fees when bidding + the very limited number of lots related to whisky probably does not attract a lot of buyers.

Anyway, if you don't mind sharing how much you paid I will appreciate.

Vincent

@vince I think that's a topic for a private message. That said, I believe the buyers premium was 17% not 30...

@vince, yes I'm not going to divulge that, but as @cpstecroix says, the buyer's premium is 17%. So when bidding, always keep that in mind. Check out auction websites like McTear's and Bonham's, and you can see what some bottles have gone for in the past. If you have bottles you think are auctionable, you can do a little research and see what they have sold for; www.whiskymarketplace.ca is another good site to get a sense of the retail prices of your bottles internationally. If you are serious about it, contact Vintages and see what the process is by which you can get an appraisal. OR - send me a direct message and let me know what bottles you feel like unloading, and if I'm interested, I'll make you an offer! :)

@ Lars - Gimli MB has 1.5 million barrels of Canadian whisky - you live in the land of Crown Royal; there must be some way you can benefit from this home court advantage ;)

@talexander

Hello Talexander,

Sorry for the delay, I'm not sure how to "private" message you. I would certainly like to discuss possibilities with you or at least have you as a contact for the future. You can find me through "whisky exchange Canada" on Facebook or "private" message me with an email address. Thanks Vincent

Hi, I am new. I have a bottle of whisky since year 1974. It is Gooderham's centennial 1867-1967 centennial 15 year whisky, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Canada's confederation. My question is - is this a collectible item? or it is just a bottle of common whisky. thanks

@tomgiffels - Canadian whisky does not command a large price for vintage bottles. Bottles that are 50 and 60 years old might command a price of $100 or slightly more as recentlyproven at auction.

My suggestion to you is to enjoy it or share it with someone who will appreciate it. Should you want to get rid of it, I would be more than happy to take it off your hands for a fair exchange...of course, I would then share it with my circle of whisky buddies.

@tomgiffels

Trust me, @paddockjudge does FAIR exchanges, if by fair he means giving you more than he gets in return... Very fair indeed.

@paddockjudge - Sounds like a great circle!

@talexander I have a couple great bottles you may be interested in I have a 1948 Kentucky tavern collectors edition unopened decanter and a 1969 old nikka whiskey

@gtysdal Thanks - are you located in Toronto?

@talexander Do I detect a bidding war looming?

@Nozinan Ha! We'll see. I vowed long ago, after overpaying for a few, that I would never get into a bidding war again! But never say never.

Not located in Toronto I'm in Calgary Alberta

@gtysdal I have a brother in law in Calgary.....

I much prefer whisky shopping there to here...

Is anyone going to slam the parties who sold the Ardbeg and the Port Ellen that @talexander bought?

@gtysdal Well, I'm not going to be in Calgary anytime soon. Unless you are in Toronto on a regular basis, in which case (and if you gave me more info on the bottles ahead of time, and we agreed on a price) you would have to bring the bottles here for a physical inspection before I agree to a purchase (and I would reserve the right to say no for any reason even after a physical inspection).

@Ol_Jas FYI - those bottles (Ardbeg 1977, Port Ellen 3rd Release and Port Ellen 9th Release) all came from LCBO/Waddington's auctions a few years ago. They were not online auctions back then - they were in-person wine auctions that had a few whisky lots thrown in.

@talexander , right on. My post was just a friendly dig at the way the online whisky community usually expresses acrimony toward people who SELL their whisky, yet we're always happy for those of us who are able to BUY that same whisky. Cheers!

@Ol_Jas Ahhhh OK! I recently sold a bottle for 3x what I paid for it last year...Ain't I a stinker?

@talexander , not in my eyes! :) Somebody was happy to buy, and you were happy to sell. Sounds good to old Jas.

@Ol_Jas

I don't have a problem with people selling their whisky, though I lament the secondary market turns many expressions into unobtainium.

I think that many of us on this site are wary of it being turned into a flea market. There are websites and auctions and private messages that are available, and it would be a shame to dilute what is an excellent place for people to discuss their interest in the topic by having it seen as "fish in a barrel" for sellers.

There are people on this site who invest in whisky and sell for a profit, but I don't see them announcing buys and sells on Connosr, and I would like it to stay that way. Just like public TV stations often carry no advertising...

@Nozinan At the same time, I would think that if someone scored a nice bottle at auction and wanted to talk about it, or sold a bottle at a price they liked and wanted to mention it, I wouldn't have any problem with that. I'm sure a few Connosr members would be interested to know info about the old G&W bottles I scored at the last LCBO auction (and how they taste!)

@talexander Sure, though personally I'd like to give you m own opinion on how they taste...

I think that counts as something that would be under a topic thread like this... or something like "steal of a deal" or "which bottle did you just purchase and why" it speaks to the excitement someone has about the hobby which may include buying and selling.

I certainly like to share in the joys of the whole thing.

But I believe that is different from a whole bunch of "I've got a bottle of MacX ultrapremium - how much do you think it's worth and anyone here wanna buy it?"

@Nozinan, what is the fill level of your bottle of MacX ultrapremium and how much do you want for it?

@Nozinan , almost always, the response to those thinly-veiled offers to sell is "just drink it" instead of "sorry, but you'll have to sell your bottle elsewhere."

@Ol_Jas True, but the message is clear.