{"id":2920,"date":"2026-01-07T12:41:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T12:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=2920"},"modified":"2026-01-07T12:41:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T12:41:58","slug":"a-once-in-history-american-whiskey-collection-is-heading-to-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=2920","title":{"rendered":"A Once-in-History American Whiskey Collection Is Heading to Auction"},"content":{"rendered":"

January will mark the first live, single-owner American whiskey auction in history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"the<\/div>\n

Later this month in New York<\/a>, Sotheby\u2019s will present The Great American Whiskey Collection<\/a> at the Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, marking a historic moment in whiskey auction history.<\/p>\n

Estimated at $1.17m to $1.68m, the sale brings together 360 bottles across 320 lots \u2013 each selected with the kind of discipline more often associated with museum collections than private bars. The auction forms part of Visions of America<\/em>, a week-long celebration of American art, objects, and innovation, fittingly timed to coincide with the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n

\"Sotheby's
The auction will take place on January 24, 2026 \u00a9Sotheby’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

See also: A First Taste of The Glenlivet\u2019s New 56-year-old Whiskey<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

As Jonny Fowle, Sotheby\u2019s Global Head of Whisky & Spirits, observes, we have never before \u201cwitnessed a collection of such sought after bottles come to market from a single owner.\u201d He adds that this \u201cis not just the most valuable American whiskey collection ever to be offered at auction, it is the most meticulously curated, featuring the hardest to find bottles in the industry. In the world of American whiskey, it is a first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Set to take place on January 24, what distinguishes The Great American Whiskey Collection is not just scale, but intention. Assembled patiently over many years and stored in a custom-built home bar to preserve the rarest expressions of Bourbon and Rye at their most authentic and elusive. Private labels, exclusive single barrels, and historic bottlings, many of which are now virtually unobtainable, form the backbone of Sotheby’s historic sale.<\/p>\n

\"the
The collection has been stored in a custom-built home bar \u00a9Sotheby’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

See also: The Secret to Great Finnish Whiskey? It Starts in a Sauna<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The chronology dates back to 1900, with a concentration of Old Rip Van Winkle bottlings at its core that account for the majority of the collection\u2019s value and prestige. Produced in extraordinarily limited quantities and largely consumed shortly after release, these Van Winkle bottles survive today as remnants of another era, and rank among the most coveted and valuable American whiskeys in existence.<\/p>\n

Alongside them sit landmark bottles from Old Fitzgerald, Red Hook Rye, Buffalo Trace, Michter\u2019s, and Wild Turkey. Sotheby\u2019s already holds the auction record for a post-Prohibition American whiskey at $125,000, and the top lot in this sale is widely expected to meet \u2013 or exceed \u2013 that figure.<\/p>\n

An Old Rip Van Winkle 20 Year Old Single Barrel bottled in 1982 carries an estimate of $70,000 to $100,000. Meanwhile, a Van Winkle 18 Year Old \u201cBinny\u2019s\u201d from 1985 follows close behind, while a Very Very Old Fitzgerald \u201cBlackhawk\u201d 18 Year Old from 1950, bottled privately for the Wirtz family of Chicago Blackhawks fame rounds out the sale\u2019s most unique offerings.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January will mark the first live, single-owner American whiskey auction in history.\u00a0 Later this month in New York, Sotheby\u2019s will present The Great American Whiskey Collection at the Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, marking a historic moment in whiskey auction history. Estimated at $1.17m to $1.68m, the sale brings together 360 bottles across 320 lots […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_preview_token":"","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}