A beginner’s guide to selling whisky
How do you sell whisky bottles?
Are you looking to sell whisky but don’t know where to start?
At Mark Littler LTD we make the selling process as simple as possible by handling all of the logistics, paperwork and fully insured shipping.
We can help you sell your whisky bottles in three ways:
1. Through a brokered private sale
2. Through specialist on line auctions
3. Through our unique brokerage shop
Our aim to achieve the best possible price for your bottles; afterall, you can only sell once. By giving you all of your options you can be sure you are making the right decision.cask brokerage service.
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How to sell whisky with Mark Littler
Simply fill in the valuation form and we will provide you with a valuation for your bottles and advice on how best to sell. All of our advice is without obligation.
Looking to sell a cask of whisky instead? We also have a dedicated cask brokerage service.
Expert Whisky Valuation
Use the form below or send images of your bottle to our WhatsApp or Email
How do you sell whisky bottles?
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 70% 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.
The final option is selling your whisky through the Mark Littler Ltd 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
What Affects The Value Of Your Whisky
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.
Single Malt Whisky Guides
Explore our detailed guides and introductions to some of the most popular and collectable bottles of single malt whisky.
Postage Service
We make getting your bottles to us simple.
We have a fully insured postage service. We send you specialist packing materials and instructions together with a pre-paid returns label so that you can ship your bottles back to us quickly and safely.
For large collections and very high-value bottles we also have a hand-courier service available.
Learn More…
Verticals & Large Collections
In 2020, we made headlines around the world when we sold a vertical of Macallan 18 Year Olds for one of our clients.
Pete Robson bought a bottle of Macallan 18 year old every year since 1992, as a birthday present for his son, Matthew. The collection consisted of 28 bottles by the time Matthew decided to sell the collection through our brokerage service.
We sold the collection to a private buyer in Asia for £44,000. Matthew planned to use the money to put down a deposit on a house.
As such, a yearly birthday present from father to son turned out to be a brilliant investment that will now help Matthew put a foot on the property ladder. It also serves as a visual history lesson that details the development of Macallan, an internationally renowned whisky brand.
We have also sold a vertical of Port Ellen Annual Releases, and we are currently selling the ultimate Collector’s Collection of whisky for £86,020. Learn More…
Expert Whisky Valuation
Use the form below or send images of your bottle to our WhatsApp or Email