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<\/div>\nAs Sotheby\u2019s global head of whisky, Jonny Fowle spends his days handling some of the most valuable spirits in the world \u2013 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\u2019s Mayfair HQ wearing a t-shirt, black corduroy shacket, and battered pair of Converse. He\u2019s also notorious for accessorizing suits with his favorite Birkenstocks.<\/p>\n
When I comment on his penchant for dressing down he laughs. \u201cWhen I first joined Sotheby\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fowle joined Sotheby\u2019s in 2019, rising to the top job in 2023 \u2013\u00a0an 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.<\/strong> The Sotheby\u2019s Instagram is full of his hot takes on topics ranging from the best way to drink old Macallan (clue: not <\/em>with Coke) to the folly of Scotch and food pairing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhisky is a \u2018luxury\u2019 product now,\u201d he says, \u201cbut really it\u2019s just a vehicle for having a good time. I think there\u2019s an extent to which the luxury side of things has been slightly imposed on the whisky industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Fowle is being just a little <\/em>disingenuous, for Sotheby\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Edinburgh-born Fowle originally trained as a sound designer, working on TV shows such as cult comedy Fleabag. <\/em>Then, in 2017, he decided to quit the day job and pursue his growing passion for whisky full-time.<\/p>\n See also: Why Runners Are Falling in Love with Wine, Beer, and Whisky Regions<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI moved to Hong Kong<\/a> and set up a little business trading whisky \u2013\u00a0and it was only then that I realised how vast the whisky collecting thing really was,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat I saw in Asia just eclipsed British drinking culture \u2013 it was another world.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn Scotland we\u2019re very good at knowing about whisky and the brands and the production,\u201d he says, \u201cbut 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\u2019t in the UK.\u201d (See below for some of his favorite bars).<\/p>\n Sotheby\u2019s best year to date was 2022 \u201cwhen we did around $30m. Last year was $21.5m \u2013 that\u2019s a fairly realistic representation of the market in the last few years.\u201d<\/p>\n Economic factors have played a part in the downturn \u2013 but the whisky industry\u2019s also to blame, he says: \u201cThe 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\u2019s just being flooded with things that nobody wants,\u201d he says with characteristic candour.<\/p>\n See also: The Most Exciting Whisky Right Now Isn\u2019t Scottish \u2013 It\u2019s English<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The perfect lot, in his book, is a whisky such as the 1964 Black Bowmore \u201cwhich grew its desirability and status organically. It was released in 1993 at about \u00a3100 (approx. $133) a bottle and at the peak of the market it was worth roughly \u00a320k (approx. $26k). It\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Is age overrated, I wonder? Because the fact is a lot of superannuated whiskies don\u2019t actually taste that nice.<\/p>\n \u201cNo \u2013 I still think age is pretty cool,\u201d he says. \u201cEven if it tastes too woody and too old that\u2019s 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 \u2014 the person who made that was living in such a different world and they would\u2019ve had no comprehension of the trajectory of that liquid.\u201d<\/p>\n But Fowle also has time for younger whiskies \u2013 one of his all-time favorite malts is a 12-year-old cask strength Springbank<\/a>, bottled by the Italian collector Silvano Samaroli. \u201cSamaroli is the guy in many people\u2019s 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\u2019s the archetype of a sherry-matured whisky \u2013\u00a0super-dark. It was released in the 1980s and would be worth maybe \u00a312k (approx $16k) today.\u201d<\/p>\n The engine room of Sotheby\u2019s whisky sales is The Macallan. \u201cIt\u2019s our biggest category by miles. The number one lot in any Scotch sale is generally a Macallan.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n Part of The Macallan\u2019s appeal, says Fowle, is the fact that it has so many vintages \u201cso you can build a vertical. And, also, people drink with their eyes: it\u2019s sherried, it\u2019s dark, and the quality is super-good.<\/p>\n The other thing that cannot be underestimated,\u201d he says, \u201cis Macallan is really easy to say. You can\u2019t proliferate news of a whisky that people struggle to pronounce.\u201d<\/p>\n Scotch still dominates the secondary market. But demand for American whiskey is now also on the rise. In January, Sotheby\u2019s hosted its second dedicated American whiskey sale in New York<\/a>, featuring an Old Rip Van Winkle 20 Year Old Single Barrel \u2018Sam\u2019s\u2019 (1982) which sold for $162,500 \u2013\u00a0setting a new record for an American whiskey at auction.<\/p>\n The most sought-after US whiskies are Van Winkle, Willett and Michter\u2019s. \u201cVan Winkle is The Macallan equivalent in terms of brand strength. Willett has released a lot of whisky that\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of the way American whiskies are matured they\u2019re a bit bolder and sweeter and richer than Scotch,\u201d he adds, \u201cso you don\u2019t 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\u2019s a whole new collector community.\u201d<\/p>\n Prices for Japanese whisky have lately seen a correction, he says. \u201cBecause of the exponential rise in prices from 2017-22 the fall was equally precipitous. It was an unsustainable rate of growth.\u201d Even so, six out of the top 10 whiskies sold by Sotheby\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n See also:\u00a0The Secret to Great Finnish Whisky? It Starts in a Sauna<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Fowle\u2019s favorite whisky auction is The Distiller\u2019s One of One, a sale of one-of-a-kind whiskies for charity, that Sotheby\u2019s co-hosts in Edinburgh each October. \u201cThe atmosphere is unbelievable. If someone throws up a bid people lose their minds and are clapping and jumping up and down,\u201d he says. \u2018I think it\u2019s the best auction of any kind, anywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n He himself has \u201cnever 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.\u201d<\/p>\n His other interests include skateboarding \u2013\u00a0he has a Santa Cruz 8.25 deck with Powell-Peralta Dragon wheels which he\u2019s been known to ride to work. He\u2019s also a self-confessed hip-hop nerd. And he likes a good coffee. \u201cAt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n But his journey in whisky\u2019s not over. \u201cI\u2019m one of those people who gets quite nerdy about stuff; I want to try and find out everything. It\u2019s such a vast topic \u2013 the more you learn the more you realise you don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n The Auld Alliance<\/strong><\/a>, Singapore<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThis bar has the most amazing collection of whisky (and old cognacs) that\u2019s open anywhere in the world and they have incredible knowledge too. It\u2019s quite old-fashioned with Chesterfields and dark-wood panelling.\u201d<\/p>\n Swan Song<\/strong><\/a>, Singapore<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had some of the best whiskies I\u2019ve ever drunk in my life from here. Legendary malts like 1970 Laphroaig; it\u2019s a great place to learn about Samarolis too. Another place where the guys know loads about whisky.\u201d<\/p>\n The French Laundry<\/strong><\/a>, San Francisco<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThis place has the most incredible selection of open Macallans \u2013 Macallan Laliques, Fine & Rare, 52 Year Old Select Reserve. If you want to drink super high-end Macallan it\u2019s got to be the best place in the world to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bar Zeotrope<\/strong><\/a>, Tokyo<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Golden Promise<\/strong><\/a>, Paris<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThis 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\u2019re not going to be able to drink for much longer.\u00a0 So get it while you can.\u201d<\/p>\n Finest and Rarest Spirits + The Macallan Exclusive<\/a><\/p>\n Hong Kong, open for bidding until 18 March<\/p>\n![\"Jonny](\"https:\/\/elitetraveler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/03\/jonny-fowle-sotherbys-whisky-2560x1706.jpg\")
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Five of Jonny Fowle’s favorite whisky bars<\/h2>\n
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Upcoming Sotheby’s sales<\/h2>\n