Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s Global Head of Whisky, tells Elite Traveler why the world’s rarest bottles are ultimately meant to be enjoyed.
As Sotheby’s global head of whisky, Jonny Fowle spends his days handling some of the most valuable spirits in the world – so I half expect him to turn up for our interview sporting a suit, tie and a pair of white gloves. But the 39-year-old arrives at Sotheby’s Mayfair HQ wearing a t-shirt, black corduroy shacket, and battered pair of Converse. He’s also notorious for accessorizing suits with his favorite Birkenstocks.
When I comment on his penchant for dressing down he laughs. “When I first joined Sotheby’s I wore a suit and tie every day but I found I was kind of overdressed most of the time. Whisky collectors and enthusiasts tend to be pretty laid back.”
Fowle joined Sotheby’s in 2019, rising to the top job in 2023 – an ascent which has mirrored, more or less, the boom in prices for collectible whisky. His appointment also says something about the increasing informality of the prestige world. The Sotheby’s Instagram is full of his hot takes on topics ranging from the best way to drink old Macallan (clue: not with Coke) to the folly of Scotch and food pairing.
“Whisky is a ‘luxury’ product now,” he says, “but really it’s just a vehicle for having a good time. I think there’s an extent to which the luxury side of things has been slightly imposed on the whisky industry.”
Fowle is being just a little disingenuous, for Sotheby’s has certainly fanned the flames. In 2025 it sold the most valuable bottle of spirits in the world (a 1965 Glenlivet SPIRA 60 Year Old, for $864,825 in a charity sale) and seven out of the top 10 spirits globally.
Edinburgh-born Fowle originally trained as a sound designer, working on TV shows such as cult comedy Fleabag. Then, in 2017, he decided to quit the day job and pursue his growing passion for whisky full-time.
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“I moved to Hong Kong and set up a little business trading whisky – and it was only then that I realised how vast the whisky collecting thing really was,” he says. “What I saw in Asia just eclipsed British drinking culture – it was another world.”
“In Scotland we’re very good at knowing about whisky and the brands and the production,” he says, “but less about the intricate history of legendary bottlings or characters within the industry. And you really see it and learn about it in Asian bars in a way you just don’t in the UK.” (See below for some of his favorite bars).
Sotheby’s best year to date was 2022 “when we did around $30m. Last year was $21.5m – that’s a fairly realistic representation of the market in the last few years.”
Economic factors have played a part in the downturn – but the whisky industry’s also to blame, he says: “The issue is there have been too many releases. Everyone and their mum is releasing a 50 year old on a weekly basis and all at top-of-the-market prices. The market’s just being flooded with things that nobody wants,” he says with characteristic candour.
See also: The Most Exciting Whisky Right Now Isn’t Scottish – It’s English
The perfect lot, in his book, is a whisky such as the 1964 Black Bowmore “which grew its desirability and status organically. It was released in 1993 at about £100 (approx. $133) a bottle and at the peak of the market it was worth roughly £20k (approx. $26k). It’s more glamorous than your average whisky bottle but not over-the-top. The quality of the liquid is extremely high. But it was still priced at a level that was drinkable, so people were opening and drinking them, and so you naturally got the introduction of scarcity.”
Is age overrated, I wonder? Because the fact is a lot of superannuated whiskies don’t actually taste that nice.
“No – I still think age is pretty cool,” he says. “Even if it tastes too woody and too old that’s still quite interesting because why does it taste like that? If you zoom out and think that cask has spent eight decades just sitting there — the person who made that was living in such a different world and they would’ve had no comprehension of the trajectory of that liquid.”
But Fowle also has time for younger whiskies – one of his all-time favorite malts is a 12-year-old cask strength Springbank, bottled by the Italian collector Silvano Samaroli. “Samaroli is the guy in many people’s views who really changed how whisky collecting was done; who really pioneered cask-strength bottlings and the idea that whisky ages in bottle which was not a widely adopted concept by distilleries at the time. It’s the archetype of a sherry-matured whisky – super-dark. It was released in the 1980s and would be worth maybe £12k (approx $16k) today.”
The engine room of Sotheby’s whisky sales is The Macallan. “It’s our biggest category by miles. The number one lot in any Scotch sale is generally a Macallan.” In 2023 a buyer paid $2.7m for a Macallan 1926, breaking the record for the most expensive bottle of wine or spirits ever sold.
Part of The Macallan’s appeal, says Fowle, is the fact that it has so many vintages “so you can build a vertical. And, also, people drink with their eyes: it’s sherried, it’s dark, and the quality is super-good.
The other thing that cannot be underestimated,” he says, “is Macallan is really easy to say. You can’t proliferate news of a whisky that people struggle to pronounce.”
Scotch still dominates the secondary market. But demand for American whiskey is now also on the rise. In January, Sotheby’s hosted its second dedicated American whiskey sale in New York, featuring an Old Rip Van Winkle 20 Year Old Single Barrel ‘Sam’s’ (1982) which sold for $162,500 – setting a new record for an American whiskey at auction.
The most sought-after US whiskies are Van Winkle, Willett and Michter’s. “Van Winkle is The Macallan equivalent in terms of brand strength. Willett has released a lot of whisky that’s over 20 years which in America is pretty high. And they do a lot of cask strength and single cask bottlings with these wax tops which are quite iconic for American whiskey collectors.”
“Because of the way American whiskies are matured they’re a bit bolder and sweeter and richer than Scotch,” he adds, “so you don’t tend to get much crossover between Scotch and American whisky drinkers. We can sell Scotch whisky in any country to buyers from any country. But we sell American whisky to Americans. It’s a whole new collector community.”
Prices for Japanese whisky have lately seen a correction, he says. “Because of the exponential rise in prices from 2017-22 the fall was equally precipitous. It was an unsustainable rate of growth.” Even so, six out of the top 10 whiskies sold by Sotheby’s in 2025 were Japanese, with a Yamazaki 50 year old taking the number one spot (for non-charity auctions) at $228,541. Karuizawa also did well.
See also: The Secret to Great Finnish Whisky? It Starts in a Sauna
Fowle’s favorite whisky auction is The Distiller’s One of One, a sale of one-of-a-kind whiskies for charity, that Sotheby’s co-hosts in Edinburgh each October. “The atmosphere is unbelievable. If someone throws up a bid people lose their minds and are clapping and jumping up and down,” he says. ‘I think it’s the best auction of any kind, anywhere in the world.”
He himself has “never really bought for investment. I open every bottle I buy. I generally buy older stuff like 1960s/70s vintage Gordon & MacPhail releases. The value is so good. I also get given a lot of stuff, so my house is full of unmarked vessels full of delicious goodies.”
His other interests include skateboarding – he has a Santa Cruz 8.25 deck with Powell-Peralta Dragon wheels which he’s been known to ride to work. He’s also a self-confessed hip-hop nerd. And he likes a good coffee. “At the moment I have a bag of washed Esmerelda Geisha which is from the original farm where the geisha bean first set a crazy auction price. Geisha is very jasmine-y but it also takes processing very well so you find all these more experimental varieties.”
But his journey in whisky’s not over. “I’m one of those people who gets quite nerdy about stuff; I want to try and find out everything. It’s such a vast topic – the more you learn the more you realise you don’t know.”
Five of Jonny Fowle’s favorite whisky bars
The Auld Alliance, Singapore
“This bar has the most amazing collection of whisky (and old cognacs) that’s open anywhere in the world and they have incredible knowledge too. It’s quite old-fashioned with Chesterfields and dark-wood panelling.”
Swan Song, Singapore
“I’ve had some of the best whiskies I’ve ever drunk in my life from here. Legendary malts like 1970 Laphroaig; it’s a great place to learn about Samarolis too. Another place where the guys know loads about whisky.”
The French Laundry, San Francisco
“This place has the most incredible selection of open Macallans – Macallan Laliques, Fine & Rare, 52 Year Old Select Reserve. If you want to drink super high-end Macallan it’s got to be the best place in the world to do it.”
Bar Zeotrope, Tokyo
“They play old 16ml black-and-white movies on a projector and have an amazing selection of Japanese whisky, mostly really nerdy stuff rather than super high-end. A lot of Chicibus, Mars and old Yamazakis. Nothing is super-expensive here.”
Golden Promise, Paris
“This bar under La Maison du Whisky tends to focus on older, often Italian, import 1980s bottlings from the 50s/60s/70s. Which is something we’re not going to be able to drink for much longer. So get it while you can.”
Upcoming Sotheby’s sales
Finest and Rarest Spirits + The Macallan Exclusive
Hong Kong, open for bidding until 18 March
New York, 12-27 March
London, 23 April – 8 May
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