wsky1

Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask

£520

latest hammer price

Rare at auction· 2 lots a year

Auction lots

6

Houses

1

Last sold

25 days ago

Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask is a collectable Scotch whisky from Port Ellen aged 18 years. Based on 6 recorded auction lots across 6 months of trading data, the current median hammer price is £445, with the most recent sale at £520. Over the trading window, prices have ranged from £350 (low) to £520 (high). Accounting for lot-to-lot variation, a realistic valuation range for Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask is £434–£606 17% around the latest sale).

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About Port Ellen

Port Ellen is a whisky distillery. Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask is an age-stated bottling at 18 years old, distilled in 1981.

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 (1981), so the available batch is inherently finite.

  • Age statement

    A 18-year age statement signals extended maturation, which limits how much was ever bottled.

  • Named / limited release

    Released as Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask, 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
Expression
1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask
Age
18 years
Vintage
1981
Edition
Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask
Bottle size
700ml

Latest sale

£520

24-month median

£445

24-month high

£520

24-month low

£350

Estimated value · likely range

£434–£606 ±17%

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

1

Activity rank

top 39% of tracked bottles

Last seen

25 days ago

Across the auction houses wsky1 tracks.

Price history (monthly median)

£340£438£536Apr 17Sept 19May 26

Recent auction results

MonthMedianLots
August 2026£5201
May 2026£5201
October 2019£3601
September 2019£5001
August 2017£3501
April 2017£3901

Comparable bottles

Frequently asked questions

How rare is Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask at auction?

Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask 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). 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 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask?

The latest hammer price for Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask at auction is £520. Across the most recent 24 months of auction data, the median hammer price is £445, with a high of £520 and a low of £350. 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 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask changed in value over the past year?

wsky1 currently has fewer than 12 months of auction data for Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask, so a year-on-year trend is not yet computed. Recent hammer prices range from £350 to £520 (median £445).

Where can I sell Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask?

Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt 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 £445 (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 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask a good investment?

Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask has appeared in 6 recorded auction lots in our database, with a current median hammer price of £445. wsky1 provides hammer-price data for informational purposes only — not investment advice.

How does wsky1 calculate the price of Port Ellen 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt 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 £520, 24-month median £445 — 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 1981 18 Year Old Old Malt Cask that hammers at £520 would cost the buyer approximately £655 all-in including buyer's premium.

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