Inside the multimillion pound Distillers One of One auction 2025
The 2025 Distillers One of One charity auction took place on 10 October and was a fun-filled day of big money bids, finds Rosalind Erskine.
Old and rare whisky is often newsworthy, especially when a bottle sells for a lot of money.
These one-off bottles, a snapshot in time, don’t come around often, which is why the Distillers One of One auction has become a much anticipated event.
The auction brings together some of Scotland’s biggest brands, along with independents and liquid from long lost distilleries to raise money for charity.
Since the initial auction in 2021, the Distillers One of One has established itself as the largest global charity auction of rare Scotch whisky ever staged and to date has raised over £4 million.
This has been principally awarded to the Youth Action Fund, which aims to transform young people's lives in Scotland, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to reach their potential and make a positive contribution to their communities.
Having attended the first auction at Barnbougle Castle in 2021, I was keen to see how the auction would go this year, with its 39 lots.
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While every piece was a work of art, the buzz was around the Port Ellen Prism 46 Year Old. The oldest single malt ever released from the Islay distillery, it was held in an ethereal, sea-creature-like sculpture and sold for £375,000.
Other art-like lots included the capsule 40-year-old Laphroaig, which sold for £125,000, and The Glenlivet SPIRA 60-year-old, which sold for a whopping £650,000.
The Glenlivet bottle is the oldest expression to be released from the distillery to date, presented in a 1.5 litre spiral decanter hand-blown and shaped by Brodie Nairn at Glasstorm.
Another standout was the Glen Grant Eternal 77-year-old, which achieved an auction record and sold for £400,000, five times its estimated value.
After welcome drinks and a chance to see the lots, the lunch - and auction - kicked off. The atmosphere in the room was often tense, but mainly loud and joyful, with the audience cheering and clapping as the bids got higher.
The auctioneers were hilariously entertaining and, as the final hammer came down, it was unannounced this year’s auction had raised £2.9m for charity.
