The 87th Auction

Welcome to our June auction where summer is in full flow here in sunny Glasgow and so are the drams...This month we have a fantastic selection of mouthwatering mothballed malts in store for you and a heavy dose of the latest 2018 peat for all you smoke heads out there!

Let's not waste time and jump straight in with The Karuizawa 48 Sumo Wrestler Set. These three bottles come in a sleek presentation case with each bottle depicting a mass of sumo wrestlers in the midst of dueling! The distillery closed its doors in 2011 making this Japanese malt highly sought-after so if you’re into sumo wrestling and whisky then you’ll have to put up a hard fight for this trio. May the best person win!

Continuing with our Karuizawa theme we bring your attention to the second glorious set we have for you. Karuizawa 1981 35 Year Old The Tale Of Genji In The Snow Cask! These stunning bottles and box depict the love story of the couple.The illustrations present a snowy love story from the eponymous Hikaru Genji’s adventures in the style of ukiyo-e painting; a Japanese artwork genre literally translating to ‘’pictures of the floating world’’. Limited to just 162 sets worldwide, this is a very rare and very beautiful set to get your hands on!

Last but by no means least on our tour of Karuizawa, we are delighted to present The Karuizawa 1981 35 Year Old Kawanakajima Casks. This limited set also comes within an exquisitely decorative presentation box; this time with images interpreting a symbolic representation of the fighting generals from the battles of Kawanakajima. This was a crucial period in Japanese history known as the sengoku-jidai (‘age of warring states’). Get bidding to own yourself a piece of Japanese liquid history in more ways than one.

Continuing on the topic of mothballed distillery - however this time back on home turf - we give you The Brora 1972 40 Year Old. At the time of release this was the oldest, rarest and most expensive liquid to have been bottled by Diageo. Bottled at cask strength, this golden malt has since garnered fantastic reviews which have described the aromatic flavours of concentrated wood-smoke and ash with soothing honey, a hint of liquorice and toasted hazelnut. And don’t be fooled by its modest wooden case for this has been handcrafted by the Queen’s cabinet makers: combining this with the crystal stopper, even the presentation screams quality. The Scottish Wild Cat etched on the front was also the crest of the Duke of Sutherland, the distillery’s founder. How’s that for a touch of royalty?!

Now we couldn’t fly through this month without mentioning the Feis Ile on Islay could we..?! We have a full spread of all the malt delicacies found at this year’s 2018 festival, so get tucked in. Something worth the Islay spotlight for all you avid collectors out there is Bowmore 8 Year Old Sherriff's 26 2/3 Fl Oz. A first appearance for us here at SWA in this pear-shaped bottling! This great little bottle roughly dates back to the 1960s when Morrison Bowmore Ltd took over the distillery.Worth keeping an eye on this little curveball!

Okay folks, not much more to say other than enjoy, get searching, and for goodness sake...don’t lose your bottle!