wsky1

Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old

£1,550
3.3%vs 12 months ago

latest hammer price · blended across 2 auction houses

Rare at auction· 2 lots a year

Auction lots

59

Houses

2

Last sold

172 days ago

Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old is a collectable Scotch whisky from Port Ellen aged 34 years. Based on 59 recorded auction lots across 42 months of trading data, the current median hammer price is £1,550, with the most recent sale at £1,550. Over the trading window, prices have ranged from £1,000 (low) to £3,200 (high). Accounting for lot-to-lot variation, a realistic valuation range for Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old is £1,375–£1,725 11% around the latest sale).

Year-on-year, Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old is up 3.3%, with a 6-month trend of -51.6% (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.

All Port Ellen expressions →

About Port Ellen

Port Ellen is a whisky distillery. Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old is an age-stated bottling at 34 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 34-year age statement reflects long maturation and the small surviving volume that implies — older stock is scarcer.

  • Named / limited release

    Released as 13thannual, 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
34 years
Vintage
1978
Edition
13th Annual
Bottle size
700ml

Filter by source

Latest sale

£1,550

24-month median

£1,550

24-month high

£3,200

24-month low

£1,000

Estimated value · likely range

£1,375–£1,725 ±11%

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

2 lots

Cadence

≈ every 183 days

Houses

2

Activity rank

top 39% of tracked bottles

Last seen

172 days ago

Across the auction houses wsky1 tracks.

Seen across auction houses

Seen at: Scotch Whisky Auctions · Whisky Auctioneer

Cross-house median

£1,550

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 Auctions44£1,200£1,575
Whisky Auctioneer1£1,550£1,550
51.6%vs 6 months ago
3.3%vs 12 months ago

Price history (monthly median)

£970£2,133£3,296Dec 14Apr 16Jun 17Aug 18Aug 19Apr 23Mar 26

Recent auction results

MonthMedianLots
March 2026£1,5501
December 2025£1,2001
November 2024£1,7001
October 2024£1,8001
April 2024£2,0001
October 2023£2,1001
April 2023£3,2001
December 2022£2,4001
July 2021£1,9001
October 2020£1,9001
February 2020£1,6002
November 2019£1,5001

Comparable bottles

Frequently asked questions

How rare is Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old at auction?

Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old appeared in 2 auction lots over the last 12 months across the auction houses wsky1 tracks — rare at auction (only a handful of lots a year). It has traded at 2 different auction houses in that period. That puts it in the top 39% 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 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old?

The latest hammer price for Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old at auction is £1,550. Across the most recent 24 months of auction data, the median hammer price is £1,550, with a high of £3,200 and a low of £1,000. 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 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old changed in value over the past year?

Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old is up 3.3% year-on-year based on monthly median hammer prices. Over the past 6 months it has moved down 51.6%. Past auction performance is not a guarantee of future value.

Where can I sell Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old?

Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 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 £1,550 (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 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old a good investment?

Over the past 12 months Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old has moved up 3.3%, with a current median hammer price of £1,550. The bottle has been observed at auction across 59 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 13th Annual Release 1978 34 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 £1,550 — 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 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old that hammers at £1,550 would cost the buyer approximately £1,953 all-in including buyer's premium.

Own a bottle of Port Ellen 13th Annual Release 1978 34 Year Old?

Track it against live auction data and see your portfolio's real market value — free for up to 3 bottles.

Start tracking free →

Own a different bottle? Get a free whisky valuation for any bottle — no signup, no card.