Is Rare a good whisky investment?

Based on 1,099+ auction observations across 18 expressions, the average bottle median is up 23.3% over the past 12 months. Volatility of returns sits at ±17%, meaning individual bottles can vary substantially around that average.

What's the best-performing Rare bottle this year?

Rare Malts Glenury Royal 1971 23 Year Old is up 53.8% YoY — currently fetching £800 median at auction (vs £520 a year ago).

Where can I see live Rare auction prices?

wsky1 aggregates hammer-price data from Scotch Whisky Auctions, Whisky Auctioneer, Whisky Hammer, Bonhams, Whisky Bull and whisky.auction. See the full Rare catalog with live prices: /distillery/rare.

wsky1

Whisky investment intelligence

Investing in Rare

18 Rare expressions tracked across 1,099+ auction observations.

12-mo avg return

+23.3%

Median return

+27.0%

Volatility (±)

17.0%

Verdict

Strong recent momentum

Top performers (12 months)

Rare bottles with the largest year-over-year median price gains.

Bottle	Current median	12mo ago	Change
Rare Malts Glenury Royal 1971 23 Year Old	£800	£500	+53.8%
Rare Malts Millburn 1975 25 Year Old	£450	£300	+50.0%
Rare Malts Glen Mhor 1976 28 Year Old	£550	£400	+42.1%
Rare Malts Glen Mhor 1979 22 Year Old	£400	£300	+34.5%
Rare Malts Royal Lochnagar 1974 30 Year Old	£450	£300	+34.4%
Rare Malts Selection	£850	£650	+33.9%
Rare Malts Selection 5 x	£850	£650	+33.9%
Rare Malts Convalmore 1978 24 Year Old	£550	£400	+28.6%

Blue-chip Rare

Highest median auction price — the established collectables.

Rare Malts St Magdalene 1979 19 Year Old

£1,000

134 observations

Rare Malts Selection

£850

6 observations

Rare Malts Selection 5 x

£850

6 observations

Rare Malts Glenury Royal 1971 23 Year Old

£800

23 observations

Rare Malts Glenury Royal 1970 28 Year Old 75cl

£650

6 observations

Cooled off (12 months)

Rare bottles that have softened — either fair-value entry points or bottles to avoid, depending on your thesis.

Rare Malts North Port 1979 20 Year Old	£300	-6.2%
Rare Malts Glenury Royal 1970 28 Year Old 75cl	£650	-4.4%

How wsky1 thinks about whisky investment

Past auction prices are the most defensible signal of a bottle's collectable value — but they are not a forecast. The data below comes from 1,099+ hammered lots across six major auction houses; none of it is curated or pay-for-placement.

Three rules-of-thumb a working collector should keep in mind:

Liquidity matters. A bottle that trades once a year cannot be priced reliably. Filter for ≥3 observations before you trust any "median" number.
Premium swings. Major auction houses charge 24–28% buyer's premium on top of hammer. Net return after both buy- and sell-side premium is roughly hammer × 0.78 ÷ paid × 1.26.
Concentrated risk. One bottle is a story; a 6-bottle portfolio across two or three distilleries is an asset class.

For a deeper view, the full Rare catalog with live prices lists every tracked expression with its full price history chart.

Track your Rare portfolio — free for 3 bottles

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