wsky1

Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts

£780

latest hammer price

Rare at auction· 3 lots a year

Auction lots

6

Houses

1

Last sold

130 days ago

Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts is a collectable Scotch whisky from Port Ellen aged 20 years. Based on 6 recorded auction lots across 5 months of trading data, the current median hammer price is £840, with the most recent sale at £780. Over the trading window, prices have ranged from £740 (low) to £1,300 (high). Accounting for lot-to-lot variation, a realistic valuation range for Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts is £643–£917 18% around the latest sale).

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About Port Ellen

Port Ellen is a whisky distillery. Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts is an age-stated bottling at 20 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.

  • Age statement

    A 20-year age statement signals extended maturation, which limits how much was ever bottled.

  • Named / limited release

    Released as rare, 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
20 years
Vintage
1978
Edition
Rare
Bottle size
700ml

Latest sale

£780

24-month median

£840

24-month high

£1,300

24-month low

£740

Estimated value · likely range

£643–£917 ±18%

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

3 lots

Cadence

≈ every 122 days

Houses

1

Activity rank

top 28% of tracked bottles

Last seen

130 days ago

Across the auction houses wsky1 tracks.

Price history (monthly median)

£718£1,028£1,339Jul 21Jul 23Apr 24Jan 26

Recent auction results

MonthMedianLots
April 2026£7802
January 2026£7401
April 2024£8401
July 2023£1,0751
July 2021£1,3001

Comparable bottles

Frequently asked questions

How rare is Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts at auction?

Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts appeared in 3 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 28% 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 - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts?

The latest hammer price for Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts at auction is £780. Across the most recent 24 months of auction data, the median hammer price is £840, with a high of £1,300 and a low of £740. 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 - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts changed in value over the past year?

wsky1 currently has fewer than 12 months of auction data for Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts, so a year-on-year trend is not yet computed. Recent hammer prices range from £740 to £1,300 (median £840).

Where can I sell Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts?

Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts 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 £840 (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 - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts a good investment?

Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts has appeared in 6 recorded auction lots in our database, with a current median hammer price of £840. wsky1 provides hammer-price data for informational purposes only — not investment advice.

How does wsky1 calculate the price of Port Ellen - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts?

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 £780, 24-month median £840 — 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 - 20 Year Old (1978) Rare Malts that hammers at £780 would cost the buyer approximately £983 all-in including buyer's premium.

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