It’s ‘the Whisky Olympics’—Ultra-Rare and One-off Bottles Head to Auction at Sotheby’s

An ultra-rare whisky auction, known as the Distillers One of One, has announced its second edition will take place next month at Hopetoun House on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland.

In partnership with Sotheby’s, the auction brings together a collection of one-off Scotch whiskies specially created and donated by leading distilleries across Scotland.

Headlining the sale is the highest valued lot, Bowmore STAC 55 Years Old, the oldest whisky the island distillery’s ever produced. It’s housed in a 1.5-litre hand-blown glass vessel that pays homage to Bowmore’s home on the island of Islay. The lot is estimated to sell for between £300,000 and £500,000 (roughly between US$371,900 and US$619,770).

The auction “represents all of the best elements of this industry: the community spirit, the rarity of the liquid, the creativity of the presentation, and, above all, the charitable nature,” says Jonny Fowle, global head of spirits at Sotheby’s.

Headlining the sale is the highest valued lot, Bowmore STAC 55 Years Old,.
Courtesy of Sotheby’s

Also of note is the 50-year-old Brora Iris (with an estimate between £200,000 and £400,000), the oldest Brora single malt that has ever been bottled and one that will never be made commercially available. The liquid is presented in a 1.5-litre decanter that’s suspended within a handcrafted stone sculpture. The bottle was designed to represent the eye of a Scottish Wildcat, the highly elusive native of the Scottish Highlands that is the emblem of the distillery.

Proceeds of the auction will be donated to the Distillers’ Charity, principally to the Youth Action Fund, which aims to improve the lives of disadvantaged young people in Scotch whisky-making communities.

The first Distillers One of One was held at Barnbougle Castle, also near Edinburgh, in December 2021. That auction featured more than 39 lots and achieved record-breaking hammer prices, with more than £2.4 million donated to The Distillers’ Charity.

“The success of the first auction was tremendous—the vision and work put in by the Distillers’ Charity supported by the contributions from the Scotch whisky industry has established a new force in Scotland to back our young people in extremely difficult times,” John Swinney, former deputy first minister of Scotland, said in the catalog notes.

Scheduled for Oct. 5, the auction—a ticketed event for which all attendees must be registered—will feature 39 lots with estimates ranging from £2,000 to £500,000. Collectors can place online bids in advance; a selection of lots is currently on view in Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries in London through Sept. 20.

The entire operation is dependent on the generosity of some of the most revered brands in the field, with producers both new and old presenting exceptional whiskies, all in the name of charity. In addition to the rare bottles, casks and experiences donated for sale, the brands also provide support to make the event possible.

The Visionary (which has an estimate between £50,000 and £90,000), is a single malt that has been aged 68 years.
Courtesy of Sotheby’s

Other offerings at the sale include the Visionary (with an estimate between £50,000 and £90,000), a single malt that has been aged 68 years, making it one of the oldest whiskies to be released by Speyside’s historic Glen Grant Distillery.

Another unique item for sale is the Gordon & MacPhail Recollection Showcase (with an estimate between £80,000 and £160,000). Housed in a handcrafted cabinet made of elm and oak, the offering features five engraved Glencairn decanters. Each contains a one-off 70-cl single malt from five distilleries that have been lost or silent for decades.

“A wiser man than me described this as being ‘the whisky olympics,’ Fowle says. “I cannot wait to be on the rostrum for this auction and see how we can develop this project into 2025.”

The number of U.S. billionaires in the world reached 870 in mid-January, outpacing the number in China for the first time in 10 years, according to a snapshot of the wealthiest in the world by the Hurun Report.

The U.S. gained 70 billionaires since last year, powered by a rising stock market, a strong dollar, and the insatiable appetite for all things AI, according to the 14th annual Hurun Global Rich List . China gained nine billionaires overall for a total of 823. Hurun is a China-based research, media, and investment group.

“It’s been a good year for AI, money managers, entertainment, and crypto,” Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report, said in a news release. “It’s been a tough year for luxury, telecommunications, and real estate in China.”

Overall, the Hurun list—which reflects a snapshot of global wealth based on calculations made Jan. 15—counted 3,442 billionaires in the world, up 5%, or 163, from a year ago. Their total wealth rose 13% to just under $17 trillion.

In November, New York research firm Altrata reported that the billionaire population rose 4% in 2023 to 3,323 individuals and their wealth rose 9% to $12.1 trillion.

Elon Musk, CEO of electric-car maker Tesla and right-hand advisor to President Donald Trump, topped the list for the fourth time in five years, with recorded wealth of $420 billion as of mid-January as Tesla stock soared in the aftermath of the U.S. election, according to Hurun’s calculations.

The firm noted that Musk’s wealth has since nosedived about $100 billion, falling along with shares of Tesla although the EV car maker is benefiting on Thursday from Trump’s 25% tariff on cars made outside the U.S.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk’s wealth stood at about $336 billion as of the market’s close on Wednesday, although measuring his exact wealth —including stakes in his privately held companies and the undiscounted value of his Tesla shares—is difficult to precisely determine.

The overall list this year contained 387 new billionaires, while 177 dropped off the list—more than 80 of which were from China, Hurun said. “China’s economy is continuing to restructure, with the drop-offs coming from a weeding out of healthcare and new energy and traditional manufacturing, as well as real estate,” Hoogewerf said in the release.

Among those who wealth sank was Colin Huang, the founder of PDD Holdings —the parent company of e-commerce platforms Temu and Pinduoduo—who lost $17 billion.

Also, Zhong Shanshan, the founder and chair of the Nongfu Spring beverage company and the majority owner of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise , lost $8 billion from “intensifying competition” in the market for bottled water. The loss knocked Zhong from his top rank in China, which is now held by Zhang Yiming founder of Tik-Tok owner Bytedance. Zhang is ranked No. 22 overall.

Hurun’s top 10 billionaires is a familiar group of largely U.S. individuals including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison. The list has France’s LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault in seventh place, three notches down from his fourth ranked spot on the Bloomberg list, reflecting a slump in luxury products last year.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is ranked No. 11 on Hurun’s list as his wealth nearly tripled to $128 billion through Jan. 15. Other AI billionaires found lower down on the list include Liang Wenfeng, 40, founder and CEO of DeepSeek, with wealth of $4.5 billion and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, with $1.8 billion.

Also making the list were musicians Jay-Z ($2.7 billion), Rihanna ($1.7 billion), Taylor Swift ($1.6 billion), and Paul McCartney ($1 billion). Sports stars included Michael Jordan ($3.3 billion), Tiger Woods ($1.7 billion), Floyd Mayweather ($1.3 billion), and LeBron James ($1.3 billion).

Wealth continues to surge across the globe, but Hoogewerf noted those amassing it aren’t overly generous.

“We only managed to find three individuals in the past year who donated more than $1 billion,” he said. Warren Buffet gave $5.3 billion, mainly to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while Michael Bloomberg —ranked No. 19 with wealth of $92 billion—gave $3.7 billion to various causes. Netflix founder Reed Hastings, ranked No. 474 with wealth of $6.2 billion, donated $1.1 billion.

It’s ‘the Whisky Olympics’—Ultra-Rare and One-off Bottles Head to Auction at Sotheby’s

The U.S. now has more billionaires than China for the first time in a decade, driven by AI and a booming stock market.