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.

Over 500 Five Star Reviews
We have over 500 five star reviews of our service across Google, Yell and Facebook, so you can sell with the upmost confidence.

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

2021 Bottle Valuation Form
Images Of Your Bottle (stood upright ideally)

Maximum file size: 10.49MB

How do you sell whisky bottles?

Is bottled whisky a good investment?

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.

Shop Macallan Mark Littler

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

50 Balvenie

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.

Macallan

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.

Port Ellen

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.

22 Brora

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.

The Yamazaki

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.

Macallan

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.

natural variation causes significant difference in cask value

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…

It has been fantastic working with Mark, the service he has provided has been very professional, reassuring and a high standard. He has gone over and above from explaining the process of whisky sales, to delivering on his advice then on the plan that was discussed. I am delighted with the outcome, and that I trusted Mark with the sale, I will absolutely be using him again.
Mhairi Muir
Mhairi Muir
1702024409
So professional,easy and relaxed attitude.Communication excellent.Wouldn't go anywhere else, and certainly do business with the company again.I'm not in the whisky business, just love drinking it ,but treated equally as any other company or trader. .Superb!!!!
Mick Judd
Mick Judd
1701901479
Great service from beginning to end when we wanted to sell our Ben Nevis cask.Buyer was found very quick and the transaction went smooth.We also got to keep six sample bottles which we finally got delivered, after some issues with swedish Customs (again great support from Hannah at ML).Thanks for everything!
Thomas Nilsson
Thomas Nilsson
1701003500
I had several casks of Scotch for many years and wanted to sell them. I'm in the US and was completely unaware as to how to do so. I cannot recommend Mark Littler LTD highly enough. Mark walked me through the steps of the process of selling from start to finish and it was flawless. Communication was excellent. My casks were sold quickly and for a very fair price.
Rena Zimmerman
Rena Zimmerman
1700395543
I must say the whole experience from start to finish was quite exceptional . Pricing , communication , simplicity , the whole process was faultless , well worth the 5 star review would not hesitate to recommend and or use again .
Mark Daniel
Mark Daniel
1700140771
Just exceptional people to deal with throughout.
I’ve waited a while to write a review but after 9 months of buying a cask of whiskey through mark littler ltd must say very happy how everything was explained and discussed mainly with HannahOnce we decided to go with mark littlerEverything was done extremely professional and quite quick always informed what was going onNow, very excited to let our cask mature over many years and hopefully both parties can earn a little bit of profit in the future thanks
Gary Bowness
Gary Bowness
1699129136
Great group to work with, highest integrity. We had an issue with an item that was likely nicked by someone at the receiving department. This issue was covered immediately with no headache on the buyer's end. I have been collecting for over 15 years. Trust and integrity can be difficult to find online but this organization shows both. Both Mark and Katy are great to work with, I could not recommend them more.
David Verebelyi
David Verebelyi
1698773697
Helped with selling of my Bruichladdich whisky cask.Excellent services from first contact to payment.Good information and updates along the way.
Fredrik Olsson
Fredrik Olsson
1698768408
A brilliant company to do business with. Very detailed and informative valuation of my whiskey and made the whole process very smooth. Was kept informed throughout the process and payment was made quickly. Highly recommend and will use again!
Jonathan C
Jonathan C
1697634379
Best in the business what can I say...! Been watching following guidance but during a difficult period sorted a much needed sale.Back them 8 symbol of infinity folks.
Doug Webster
Doug Webster
1697542410
Excellent. Very helpful throughout, kept me informed during the process. Would not hesitate to recommend to anybody.
Linda Wright
Linda Wright
1697449681
Such an easy process, even sent the packaging to send bottle, smooth transaction , will use again
bill packer
bill packer
1697103371
Mark secured the best price for our Lowry Print. Thank you
Chris Tudor
Chris Tudor
1696950287
Great service from staff. very helpful and expert advice.
Peter Corns
Peter Corns
1696627499
Very pleased with the service. Hard to find among companies nowadays. Kept in touch with me at every step. I highly recommend them.
Dave Wiltshire
Dave Wiltshire
1696593588
In 1991 I purchased a number edition bottle of Midleton Very Rare whiskey in a box with the certification endorsed by the Master Distiller Barry Crockett whilst visiting Whiskey Corner in Dublin.It was stored in a cupboard until March 2013 when my wife suggested that we had it valued.Having searched on line for a whisky broker two options were presented by the internet one in Dublin and one in Congleton Cheshire. Mark Littler Independent Whisky Broker. From the first contact by phone with their staff members relating to my initial enquiry and the subsequent process of selling the bottle of whiskey they all dealt with the matter with very professionally and kept us fully informed at every stage of the process to achieve finding a buyer in their Online Shop.We personally delivered the Midleton Whiskey to their premises in Congleton in late March 2023 where Beth welcomed us to the very secure and tempreature controlled suite of offices where we met all the members of staff who would be dealing with our sale.My wife and I were handed a very detailed and simple contract of sale which Beth gave us time to read through and explained all the process of how the sale would be conducted by Mark Littler Ltd, and an initial offer price was agreed to commence the sale.In July Beth contacted us to suggest that we include our bottle in a video that was being produced to promote their whisky shop and items available for sale. The video was very professionally made and explained in detail each of the bottles on offer to prospective buyers.The sale of our bottle of Midleton Whiskey was completed in September at the price we had hoped to achieve when it was independently valued.During the whole [process of our dealings with Beth and Katy we kept up to date on the sale process, and the agreed sum of money achieved arrived in our bank account as promised.As valued customers we would fully endorse and recommend Mark Littler Ltd as a trustworthy company to sell your valuable times through either in their shop or at auction.Mr Lawrence and Mrs Par Burrell.Shepperton. Middlesex,
I really enjoy all the content, however when I contacted the company in order to sell my bottles, no one responded despite my 3 attempts over several weeks (email, website, Whatsapp link wasn't working).After submitting 2 star review Mark reached out within an hour and provided the valuation for the bottles along with advice. He explained that my email ended in spam which was valid reason for the delay so I edited my review to 5 stars which they deserve.
Adam Dziacky
Adam Dziacky
1694681021
After 20 years I'm a bit maudlin at seeing my madeira butt go but the process was made easier by recruiting Mark Littler to assist.Communications with Mark and his team are quick and simple. What Mark says, he does, with openess and integrity which in these times of charlatanism is a relief to come across. His counsel and advice held water and helped me realise one of my ambitions.I contacted Mark after hearing him speak on the BBC's 'The Food Programme'. My thoughts were that if the BBC's production team had vetted him and found all wholesome then he would be good enough for me. As a result, I can reccomend Mark wholeheartedly. I will be going back to Mark in 5 years time when those casks I bought for our children will need to be sold to help them onto their respective property ladders.Many thanks Mark and team.
Nick Hayes
Nick Hayes
1694427184
From start to finish the team have been professional and easy to deal with. Don't hesitate to use them. Already recommended to friends and will be using again when the opportunity arises.
runstar2212
runstar2212
1694192099
Would highly recommend, very professional service from start to finish, fast and efficient, thank you Mark.
Excellent app
bill cabin
bill cabin
1692636867
Recently used Mark Littler’s services and what a positive experience. Great communication and easy to deal with. Very professional and efficient process. Thank you!
Simone A
Simone A
1692198456
Five star service from all the team. I would highly recommend Mark Littler. The team were highly efficient and extremely helpful.
bruce Liddell
bruce Liddell
1692181794
We used Mark and his team to sell a Lowry print. A big thank-you to Hannah for all your help. The service provided was excellent from first contact to sale. Mark's site is brilliant and provided us with lots of really useful information. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Mark and his team. It really was a first class service.
Sarah Herring
Sarah Herring
1691409922
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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…

Learn More…

Macallan Whisky Collection

Expert Whisky Valuation

Use the form below or send images of your bottle to our WhatsApp or Email

2021 Bottle Valuation Form
Images Of Your Bottle (stood upright ideally)

Maximum file size: 10.49MB