Before we kick into the meat of this post, I’d like to take a moment to recognise the IWV community. We are now 300+ people on the facebook group and 170 followers on Instagram with many regular contributors to the Survey which now tracks over 230 bottles from some of the top distillers in the country. Thank-you for your support, and I look forward to bringing you more regular blogs, updates and commentary on auctions throughout 2019. If you haven’t joined already – get involved!

IDL gave me my first introduction to “GOOD” Irish whiskey about 5 years ago when I first tasted their Redbreast 12/15/21 bottling’s. They then decided to blow my mind with the introduction of the Redbreast Single Cask Series back in February 2016 with their 1st bottling for The Whisky Exchange in the UK.

This line ticks all the boxes – a Perfect Storm if you will; Great juice, limited numbers, many open bottles, as well as an excellent brand with growing global recognition. Collectors everywhere pay attention!

The Redbreast Single Cask Series is also undoubtably one of the tastiest lines of Irish whiskey out there with the La Maison Du Whiskey 25yo (60th Anniversary) being touted by many as the pinnacle of the lot – although some say The Friend At Hands bottling is as good if not better. I’d be surprised if anyone however would suggest that any of the bottlings are anything other than excellent.

The line has now grown to 11 bottlings (and sorry, the RB 32 – Dreamcask does not qualify as part of the set despite being a single cask!), but hearsay advises that there are further releases due from 2 bars in the US and potentially one or two others nearer to home.

Most of the bottles are still reasonable attainable through Facebook and Auction sites (not to mention those still on sale from the original retail stores (CWS, Sonny Molloys and The Palace Bar) – however those which are commanding the greatest premium in the secondary market are the La Maison Du Whisky 60th Anniversary Edition, and the CWS 1999 bottling.

Below is a summary table of over 130 results for the series from all the auction sites, facebook and private trades from the last 12 months with low, high, and average values. On a side note – all bottles are trending upwards in recent months albeit at a steady, sustainable rate. And bargains can still be found on the auction sites for those seeking for a deal!

While there haven’t been any full (all 11) sets sold (to my knowledge) recently – adding in the 2 recent additions to confirmed sales of the first 9 bottles (pictured above) would value the full set in and around the €5k-€5.5k mark.

All in all, the future looks rosy for the RBSC series, but the collector in me hopes IDL don’t go crazy with additional releases to the point where there are 25+ bottlings – like the Powers Single Casks which will be the subject of the next blog in the coming weeks.

Slainte!