Whisky Hammer duo toast sales of £60 million

And they've more cause for celebration - next month's auction is their 100th.

By Keith Findlay

February 26 2024, 2:30 pm

Craig, left, and Daniel Milne of Whisky Hammer. Image: Weber Shandwick

The entrepreneurial brothers behind Whisky Hammer are toasting whisky sales worth £60 million as they get ready for their 100th online auction.

Daniel and Craig Milne hail from Macduff, Aberdeenshire.

They launched their business, based in Udny, near Ellon, eight years ago.

It hosts monthly auctions of rare and often very expensive spirits to buyers worldwide.

Whisky Hammer highlights

In 2022 the firm notched up a world record when a rare cask of Macallan single malt fetched £915,500 at one of its auctions.

Other high-profile bottles sold by Whisky Hammer include a 55-year-old Yamazaki, which went for £380,000.

Whisky Hammer sold this 55-year-old-Yamazaki for £380,000. Image: Weber Shandwick

To date, the auction site has sold a total of 155,000 lots in its auctions. Bids have come in from 88 countries. Its milestone 100th auction will go live online on Friday March 15.

Sellers are being urged to submit “interesting, unique or rare” bottles before a deadline of Monday March 11, in return for one-off incentives.

Rather than the usual 5% commission charge, sales in next month’s event will benefit from not only zero fees but also a 1% bonus being paid on top of the hammer proceeds.

Thousands of pounds-worth of whisky vouchers up for grabs

Meanwwhile, all successful buyers will be entered into a prize draw to win a share of £10,000-worth of whisky vouchers from Still Spirit, the retail arm of Whisky Hammer.

Each bottle acquired in the auction will entitle its new owner to one entry in the draw.

Whisky Hammer will also bottle a limited edition, 11-year-old blended whisky in celebration of its 100th auction. There will be 100 bottles of these available to bid on.

A bottle of Whisky Hammer’s record-breaking Macallan. Image: Weber Shandwick

Daniel Milne, managing director,Whisky Hammer and Still Spirit, said: “We’ve navigated a slower market with the effects of challenging global economic events.

“But demand for rare, collectable and unique bottles of whisky is still incredibly high.

“Thanks to our global buyer and seller customer base, we’ve been lucky enough to represent some true unicorns of the whisky world in our monthly auctions.