wsky1

Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask

£240
4.3%vs 12 months ago

latest hammer price · blended across 2 auction houses

Scarce at auction· 10 lots a year

Auction lots

38

Houses

2

Last sold

7 days ago

Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask is a collectable Scotch whisky from Caol Ila aged 21 years. Based on 38 recorded auction lots across 23 months of trading data, the current median hammer price is £200, with the most recent sale at £240. Over the trading window, prices have ranged from £115 (low) to £270 (high). Accounting for lot-to-lot variation, a realistic valuation range for Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask is £219–£261 9% around the latest sale).

Year-on-year, Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask is up 4.3%, with a 6-month trend of +9.1% (up). 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 Caol Ila

Caol Ila is a whisky distillery. Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask is an age-stated bottling at 21 years old, distilled in 1981.

What drives this bottle's value

  • Single vintage

    Distilled in a single year (1981), so the available batch is inherently finite.

  • Age statement

    A 21-year age statement signals extended maturation, which limits how much was ever bottled.

  • Named / limited release

    Released as caskfirst, a named edition rather than part of the standard core range.

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
Caol Ila
Age
21 years
Vintage
1981
Edition
First Cask
Bottle size
700ml

Filter by source

Latest sale

£240

24-month median

£200

24-month high

£270

24-month low

£115

Estimated value · likely range

£219–£261 ±9%

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

Scarce at auctiona good find when it appears

Seen at auction

10 lots

Cadence

≈ every 37 days

Trend

0% vs prior year

Houses

2

Activity rank

top 8% of tracked bottles

Last seen

7 days ago

Across the auction houses wsky1 tracks.

Seen across auction houses

Seen at: Scotch Whisky Auctions · Whisky Hammer

Cross-house median

£200

Median hammer price blended across every recorded sale at all 2 auction houses below — a single figure that smooths house-to-house variation.

Auction housePrice pointsLatest hammerMedian
Scotch Whisky Auctions26£240£200
Whisky Hammer10£200£200
9.1%vs 6 months ago
4.3%vs 12 months ago

Price history (monthly median)

£112£195£278Jan 15Jul 19Jan 22Aug 23

Recent auction results

MonthMedianLots
August 2026£2401
July 2026£1901
March 2026£2154
December 2025£2102
October 2025£1902
August 2025£2402
April 2025£2202
December 2024£1904
October 2024£1902
July 2024£2701
March 2024£2302
December 2023£2101

Comparable bottles

Frequently asked questions

How rare is Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask at auction?

Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask appeared in 10 auction lots over the last 12 months across the auction houses wsky1 tracks — scarce at auction (a good find when it appears). That is up 0% on the previous year. It has traded at 2 different auction houses in that period. That puts it in the top 8% by auction activity among the 29,829 bottles wsky1 tracks — most collectable bottles hammer only a handful of times a year.

What is the current auction price of Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask?

The latest hammer price for Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask at auction is £240. Across the most recent 24 months of auction data, the median hammer price is £200, with a high of £270 and a low of £115. 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 Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask changed in value over the past year?

Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask is up 4.3% year-on-year based on monthly median hammer prices. Over the past 6 months it has moved up 9.1%. Past auction performance is not a guarantee of future value.

Where can I sell Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask?

Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask 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 £200 (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 Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask a good investment?

Over the past 12 months Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask has moved up 4.3%, with a current median hammer price of £200. The bottle has been observed at auction across 38 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 Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask?

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 £240, 24-month median £200 — 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 Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask that hammers at £240 would cost the buyer approximately £302 all-in including buyer's premium.

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