"This weekend at Sotheby's New York, a bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle 20-Year-Old Single Barrel "Sam's" (1982) sold for $162,500, setting a new record for the most valuable bottle of American whiskey ever sold at auction. Only 60 hand-numbered bottles of the legendary "Sam's" release were ever produced, bottled at a staggering 133.4 proof, the highest proof Van Winkle expression ever released. The bottle hadn't appeared at auction in more than a decade."
"That record-setting bottle headlined the Great American Whiskey Collection Saturday, which brought in $2.5 million, making it the most valuable single-owner American whiskey collection ever sold and the most valuable single-owner spirits auction ever held in New York. The total more than doubled Sotheby's low pre-sale estimate of $1.17 million, and every single lot sold. For a category that, until recently, lagged far behind Scotch in the auction world, the sale marked a watershed moment."
A 1982 bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle 20-Year-Old Single Barrel "Sam's" sold for $162,500 at Sotheby's New York, establishing a new auction record for American whiskey. Only 60 hand-numbered bottles of the "Sam's" release were produced, bottled at 133.4 proof, the highest proof Van Winkle expression, and the bottle had not appeared at auction in more than a decade. The Great American Whiskey Collection sale totaled $2.5 million, making it the most valuable single-owner American whiskey collection and single-owner spirits auction in New York. Every lot sold and the total more than doubled Sotheby's low pre-sale estimate of $1.17 million. The sale was the first live, single-owner American whiskey sale in history and featured ultra-rare Kentucky and rye bottlings.
Read at Fast Company
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