wsky1

Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old

£1,550
40.4%vs 12 months ago

latest hammer price

Rare at auction· 6 lots a year

Auction lots

222

Houses

1

Last sold

13 days ago

Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old is a collectable Scotch whisky from Port Ellen aged 31 years. Based on 222 recorded auction lots across 70 months of trading data, the current median hammer price is £1,329, with the most recent sale at £1,550. Over the trading window, prices have ranged from £580 (low) to £2,600 (high). Accounting for lot-to-lot variation, a realistic valuation range for Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old is £1,302–£1,798 16% around the latest sale).

Year-on-year, Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old is down 40.4%, with a 6-month trend of -8.8% (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 Port Ellen

Port Ellen is a whisky distillery. Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old is an age-stated bottling at 31 years old, distilled in 1978.

What drives this bottle's value

  • Closed / ghost distillery

    Port Ellen closed in 1983; bottlings from its original era are finite and command a scarcity premium at auction.

  • Single vintage

    Distilled in a single year (1978), so the available batch is inherently finite.

  • Considerable age

    A 31-year age statement reflects long maturation and the small surviving volume that implies — older stock is scarcer.

  • Named / limited release

    Released as 10thannual, 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
Port Ellen
Age
31 years
Vintage
1978
Edition
10th Annual
Bottle size
700ml

Latest sale

£1,550

24-month median

£1,329

24-month high

£2,600

24-month low

£580

Estimated value · likely range

£1,302–£1,798 ±16%

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

6 lots

Cadence

≈ every 61 days

Houses

1

Activity rank

top 14% of tracked bottles

Last seen

13 days ago

Across the auction houses wsky1 tracks.

8.8%vs 6 months ago
40.4%vs 12 months ago

Price history (monthly median)

£563£1,620£2,678Jan 14Dec 15Apr 17Aug 18Nov 19Mar 22Dec 24Aug 26

Recent auction results

MonthMedianLots
August 2026£1,5502
January 2026£1,6002
September 2025£1,4002
December 2024£1,3002
August 2024£1,4002
June 2024£1,5504
May 2024£1,7002
March 2024£1,5504
February 2024£1,5002
October 2023£1,9002
December 2022£2,0002
November 2022£2,5002

Comparable bottles

Frequently asked questions

How rare is Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old at auction?

Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old appeared in 6 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 14% 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 Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old?

The latest hammer price for Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old at auction is £1,550. Across the most recent 24 months of auction data, the median hammer price is £1,329, with a high of £2,600 and a low of £580. 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 Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old changed in value over the past year?

Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old is down 40.4% year-on-year based on monthly median hammer prices. Over the past 6 months it has moved down 8.8%. Past auction performance is not a guarantee of future value.

Where can I sell Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old?

Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old 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 £1,329 (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 Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old a good investment?

Over the past 12 months Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old has moved down 40.4%, with a current median hammer price of £1,329. The bottle has been observed at auction across 222 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 Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old?

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 £1,550, 24-month median £1,329 — 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 Port Ellen 10th Annual Release 1978 31 Year Old that hammers at £1,550 would cost the buyer approximately £1,953 all-in including buyer's premium.

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