wsky1

Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release

£540
42.1%vs 12 months ago

latest hammer price

Rare at auction· 4 lots a year

Auction lots

48

Houses

1

Last sold

299 days ago

Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release is a collectable Scotch whisky from Bowmore aged 26 years. Based on 48 recorded auction lots across 21 months of trading data, the current median hammer price is £540, with the most recent sale at £540. Over the trading window, prices have ranged from £330 (low) to £800 (high). Accounting for lot-to-lot variation, a realistic valuation range for Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release is £378–£703 30% around the latest sale).

Year-on-year, Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release is up 42.1%, with a 6-month trend of -28% (down). wsky1 aggregates hammer prices from major public Scotch whisky auctions including Scotch Whisky Auctions, Whisky Auctioneer, and Bonhams. All prices are in GBP and exclude buyer's premium (typically 24–28% additional at major houses). Past auction performance is not a guarantee of future value.

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About Bowmore

Bowmore is a whisky distillery. Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release is an age-stated bottling at 26 years old, distilled in 1985.

What drives this bottle's value

  • Single vintage

    Distilled in a single year (1985), so the available batch is inherently finite.

  • Considerable age

    A 26-year age statement reflects long maturation and the small surviving volume that implies — older stock is scarcer.

These are scarcity and demand signals drawn from the bottle's own attributes — they describe the bottle, not a prediction of future price. Not investment advice.

Release & bottling facts

Distillery
Bowmore
Age
26 years
Vintage
1985
Bottle size
700ml

Latest sale

£540

24-month median

£540

24-month high

£800

24-month low

£330

Estimated value · likely range

£378–£703 ±30%

Auction hammers swing lot to lot with condition, fill level and timing. Treat this band — not a single figure — as the bottle's value.

Market presence

last 12 months

Rare at auctiononly a handful of lots a year

Seen at auction

4 lots

Cadence

≈ every 91 days

Houses

1

Activity rank

top 22% of tracked bottles

Last seen

299 days ago

Across the auction houses wsky1 tracks.

28%vs 6 months ago
42.1%vs 12 months ago

Price history (monthly median)

£320£572£824Apr 14Jul 16Jul 21Sept 23Nov 25

Recent auction results

MonthMedianLots
November 2025£5404
August 2025£6502
June 2024£6502
April 2024£8002
December 2023£7004
September 2023£8002
May 2023£7502
September 2021£7502
July 2021£8002
April 2021£8002
December 2016£5002
July 2016£4254

Comparable bottles

Frequently asked questions

How rare is Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release at auction?

Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release appeared in 4 auction lots over the last 12 months across the auction houses wsky1 tracks — rare at auction (only a handful of lots a year). That puts it in the top 22% by auction activity among the 29,926 bottles wsky1 tracks — most collectable bottles hammer only a handful of times a year.

What is the current auction price of Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release?

The latest hammer price for Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release at auction is £540. Across the most recent 24 months of auction data, the median hammer price is £540, with a high of £800 and a low of £330. All prices are in GBP and exclude buyer's premium. Data is aggregated from major auction houses including Scotch Whisky Auctions, Whisky Auctioneer, and Bonhams.

How much has Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release changed in value over the past year?

Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release is up 42.1% year-on-year based on monthly median hammer prices. Over the past 6 months it has moved down 28%. Past auction performance is not a guarantee of future value.

Where can I sell Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release?

Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release regularly appears at major Scotch whisky auction houses including Scotch Whisky Auctions (Scotland), Whisky Auctioneer (Scotland), Just Whisky, Whisky Hammer, and Bonhams. The current median hammer price is £540 (excluding buyer's premium). At most major houses, buyer's premium adds 24–28% on top of hammer for the buyer; sellers typically receive the hammer price minus a sales commission of 5–15%.

Is Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release a good investment?

Over the past 12 months Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release has moved up 42.1%, with a current median hammer price of £540. The bottle has been observed at auction across 48 recorded lots in our database. wsky1 provides hammer-price data for informational purposes only — not investment advice. Whisky is an illiquid alternative asset; secondary-market value depends heavily on bottle condition, fill level, label integrity, and timing.

How does wsky1 calculate the price of Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release?

wsky1 ingests public auction results from major auction houses (via direct scraping of Scotch Whisky Auctions, Whisky Auctioneer, Bonhams, and Whisky Hammer, plus aggregated data from WhiskyHunter). For each bottle, we group hammer prices by year-month and compute the median price per month. The figures shown — latest £540, 24-month median £540 — are derived from this monthly-median methodology. All prices are hammer prices in GBP, excluding buyer's premium.

Does the price include buyer's premium?

No. All prices on wsky1 are hammer prices only. Buyer's premium at major Scotch whisky auction houses currently runs at 24–28% on top of the hammer price. A bottle of Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old Vintage Release that hammers at £540 would cost the buyer approximately £680 all-in including buyer's premium.

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