What Affects The Price Of Cadenhead Whisky
Selling Cadenhead whisky can seem like a daunting prospect. After all, there are so many ways that you can sell whisky. But which way is the most effective? And, how can you get the best price for your whisky? Well, that is where we come in.
At Mark Littler Ltd we can help you to sell your Cadenhead whisky quickly, stress-free, and for the best price. We make selling whisky online easy with Mark Littler Ltd.
How We Can Help You Sell Your Whisky
Simply fill in the form below and we will put you in contact with a specialist whisky retailer. If your bottle is suitable they will make you an offer directly. This is preferable for those wanting a quick sale, or for those who are not prepared to take the risk that auctions entail. There is no charge for our assistance if you accept a private sale.
Alternatively we can help you sell your bottles through auction. With close to 30,000 bottles being sold at auction every month you have to be sure that your bottles are being sold in the right auction to achieve the highest price. There is no charge for our assistance selling at auction
Free Specialist Whisky Valuations
Please use the form below to submit images of your bottle and receive a free, no-obligation valuation from a specialist auctioneer. We will also actively seek the highest offer from our network of private collectors to help you sell your whisky.
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What Our Customers Say
Whisky Valuation Tips
Are you looking to sell your whisky for the highest possible price? It might surprise you to learn that one of the most important actions you can take is to capture high-quality images of your bottles. This ensures we can offer you the best prices and accurately appraise your bottles. Here are our top tips for submitting images of your bottles:
- Stand the bottle upright so that we can clearly see the level of the whisky in the bottle.
- Do you have the original box? If so, place it next to the bottle in the photo.
- Capture the images in a well-lit room, ideally against a neutral background.
What To Look For
Cadenhead Dumpy
The Dumpy series has arguably one of the most diverse designs in the Cadenhead collection with over 300 different labels recorded, however it is rumoured that there are up to 400 types in existence. The Dumpy is famed for its black label with bold white font, bordered by either white or gold Scottish thistles.
Traditionally bottles have a gold screw cap with a smaller label that sits at the bottle neck. The larger label outlines the owner at time of production, the location (Netherkirkgate, Campbelltown, Aberdeen etc.) the volume and proof. The Dumpy was originally bottled at 46% ABV, except during 1989-1991 when they were produced a Cask Strength.
A bottle of 20-year-old Clynelish 1965 recently sold for £13,000.
150th Anniversary and Authentic Collection
The 150th Anniversary collection was produced in 1992 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Cadenhead distillery in Netherkirkgate. They formed part of the Authentic Collection, started in 1991, which consisted of a selection of incredibly rare Scottish whiskies from closed distilleries across the country.
They are presented in traditional 70cl bottles with a stopper cork, sealed with the usual Cadenhead gold. Labels are in their trademark black design with white font, flanked with the thistle illustration. Following two years bottling the Authentic Collection at 46%, in the 1990s Cadenhead began to favour the Cask Strength bottling.
Cask Strength
In contrast to the Authentic Collection, the Cask Strength series chose not to include the usual details, such as age, month of distillation and bottling date. Instead they opted to add the cask number. This decision makes the Cask Strength bottles unique within the Cadenhead brand.
Another discerning feature of the Cask Strength bottles are the labels, diverging from the traditional black background with gold font, these bottles are designed with a white label including a black and white illustration of the Cadenhead distillery and includes a black and red font. It does however retain the gold foiled stopper cork. Interestingly there was a mistake made in the printing of the Allt-a-Bhainne labels, in which the second ‘L’ was missed from ‘Allt’, which makes these bottles particularly remarkable.
The vast majority of Cask Strength bottles date from the mid-nineties with proofs ranging between the 55-65% ABV.
An Ardbeg Cask Strength bottle recently sold for £3,355.
The History Of Cadenhead
Cadenhead was first established by George Duncan in 1842, at 47 Netherkirkgate in Aberdeen, making it the oldest of Scotland’s independent bottlers. He was joined almost 10 years later by his brother-in-law William Cadenhead.
Following Duncan’s death in 1858 William Cadenhead took ownership of the business and changed its name to William Cadenhead Limited. Although there is little documented about the life of George Duncan, Cadenhead was well known as both a vintner and a poet and ran the company until his death in 1904. He was succeeded by his nephew Robert W. Duthie.
It was under Duthie that the company became most famous for independent whisky bottling. It was Duthie who started to vat malt varieties for blends rather than just singles. As a result, branded whiskies like Putachieside and Heilanman were born and the slogan ‘By Test the Best’ was used in advertising for the company on concert programmes, buses and the curtains at theatres.
Unfortunately, Duthie was hit by a tram whilst en route to a meeting with his bank manager and following his death Cadenhead passed to his sisters. The sisters had little knowledge of the company but shared a desire to keep it running, thus they appointed long-term Cadenhead employee Ann Oliver to manage the business.
Oliver was known for her eccentricities; she refused to move with the times, which led the company into some trouble and left them with a warehouse bursting with whisky gunnels of no discernible value. To clear their debts, they held a Christies fire sale of the entire collection, from which they made millions above what they owed.
When Oliver retired, J & A. Mitchell took over the business and moved operations from Netherkirkgate to Campbeltown. Nowadays, in addition to the high-end, non-coloured and non-chill-filtered single malts, Cadenhead has tasting rooms and shops in Edinburgh and London.
The Six Factors That Affect The Price Of Cadenhead Whisky
There are six factors that will affect the price of your bottle of Cadenhead. These are the age of the whisky, the bottling date, the vintage, whether it is a single cask edition, the level of the whisky and the condition of the label and box.
Age of whisky
This refers to the number of years the whisky has spent maturing in the cask, not how long it has been in the bottle. The age is indicated on the label and can vary from 3 to well over 30 years old.
Most collectible bottles are over 10 years old and value usually increases with the age of the whisky. Whisky over 30 years old is the most sought after as it is the rarest.
Any whisky bottled at over 50 years old is highly desirable and a very limited number of distilleries have released whisky over 50 years old.
Bottling date
This relates to when the whisky was bottled. As bottles from a specific year are consumed, the remaining bottles become rarer, so even a ‘standard’ malt released in the 1980’s can become sought after.
If vintage is not stated bottle volume can be an indicator of bottling era. Bottles from the 1970s and earlier use fluid ounces (FL.OZ). In the 1980s standard bottles size was 75cl and in 1991 the standard size (in the EU) changed to 70cl. Note that standard bottle size is still 75cl in the USA, and other bottle sizes are occasionally used, in which case you will have to use other indicators.
Distillation year
The distillation year might also be described as the bottle vintage, and refers to the specific year in which the whisky was distilled (made). It is one of the most important factors that can impact the price of your collectible whisky.
In general, the earlier the distillation year the more collectible your bottle of whisky. Bottles from the first half of the 20th century are highly valued by collectors and fetch a premium. That being said, the bottler is also important, and so two whiskies distilled in the same year, at the same distillery, but bottled by different bottlers will vary in value.
Label & packaging
The label on a bottle of collectible whisky is very important and should be in pristine condition to fetch the highest value. If the label is damaged in any way, such as scratching, blemishing, pealing or mould, then this will have a negative impact on the value.
The box condition is almost as important as the label condition, and the correct box is very important to collectors. A bottle with a damaged or marked box will be worth less, and a bottle without its original box could be worth up to 30% less.
Level
The level of the whisky has a large impact on the value. On almost all bottles it should be well into the neck, a level in the lower half of the neck is worth less and levels into the shoulder will significantly impact the value.
Older bottles are more prone to a drop in level as the bottles were not intended for storage. A drop in level implicates the long term storage prospects for any collector but as alcohol is more volatile than water it is the alcohol that will evaporate first, which impacts the flavour.
Single Cask Bottlings
Single cask bottlings are generally more sought after, as by default they are unique and usually of a significantly limited edition. Look out for numbers on your bottle like XXX/250, with the second number generally being less than 500, which would indicate a single cask edition.
Longer edition numbers such as XXX/5000 are often also collectible. These longer numbers usually indicate that the release is a vatting of a number of casks.
How We Can Help Sell Your Cadenhead Whisky
Private Sale
Our brokerage service is a simple, stress-free way to sell whisky. We will broker the sale between you and one of our buyers. For this service, we charge a 10% commission (inc. VAT) of the final sale price of the item. This avenue is fast and simple. We will take care of everything for you.
Auction
At Mark Littler Ltd we can also help you to sell whisky via auction. We have teamed up with the country’s leading online whisky auctions to help you to sell whisky at auction without the hassle. This is a great option for lower-value bottles, or if you do not mind taking some risks.
Shop
The final option is selling your whisky through our one-of-a-kind online shop. On our shop, we broker the sale of high-value bottles for our customers. Your bottle will sit amongst rare and expensive whisky and our advertising campaigns aim to draw the eye of whisky collectors everywhere.
Do You Remember This Story?
In 2020 we sold a vertical of Macallan 18 year old for Matthew Robson for £44,000!
The story went viral being covered from the BBC, to India, to the USA.
Matthew had been given a bottle every year from his father as a birthday gift and at the time of sale amounted to 28 bottles, all with their original boxes.
Now We Can Help You
It was a pleasure to work with Matthew, assisting him in obtaining the highest possible amount for his collection. Now, let us use our experience and connections to assist you.
“I was looking to sell my whisky collection of 28 bottles of Macallan 18 year old to fund the purchase of my first house, so I got in touch with Mark.
My father gave me 1 bottle each year for a birthday present so that by the time that I was 18 I would have 18 bottles of 18 year old Macallan. (Yes I’m that guy who was plastered over the media)
Mark did a great job of getting professional photos taken of them and creating a PR buzz around the collection and I even ended up on BBC breakfast news, lad bible, and various radio stations around the world.
At one point my story was the second most viewed story on BBC world wide news app for the whole weekend with over 2 million views.
Needless to say within a day or two of this PR Campaign there was numerous offers.
I would like to thank Mark for all his work and helping me with everything.”
What Is Your Whisky Worth
Do you want to know what your whisky is worth but don’t know where to start?
Use these guides to help you.
What Is Your Whisky Worth? – An in-depth look at the factors affecting your bottle’s value.
A Beginner’s Guide To Selling Whisky – Everything you need to get started selling your whisky.
How To Sell Whisky Online – A rundown of all the online selling options available.
Sell Your Whisky Today – A simple way to sell your whisky fast.
Macallan Specific Guides
The Complete Guide To Valuing Macallan Whisky – Selling Macallan? This is your starting point.
What Is Macallan Whisky Worth? – Unsure of your Macallan’s value? Begin here
Send us details about your bottle directly via email or use the form below.
We contact our international network of customers for the best offers.
If you decide to proceed with an offer we issue you with a contract.
Send us your bottle. We have a fully insured courier service available.
We complete the sale with the buyer and send your funds via BACS.
