Oldest Surviving Cognacs in the World to be Offered by Sotheby's


A Bottle of the One of the World’s Oldest Surviving Cognacs to be offered by Sotheby’s in Online Auction alongside exceptional whiskies open for bidding from 14 to 28 May

May 14, 2020: Sotheby’s Wine, with a store located within the auction house’s worldwide headquarters on New York’s Upper East Side, offers a carefully curated selection of wines from the world’s most prestigious producers and important regions. The year 1762 is notable for a number of historic events. At the Maison Gautier in France, a family business that had only seven years previously obtained a Royal Warrant to produce Cognac, with a founding charter signed by King Louis XV. History was also in the making for what has been described in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest cognac vintage ever sold at auction.

Oldest Surviving Cognacs in the World to be Offered by Sotheby's
 

Only three bottles of the exceedingly rare Gautier Cognac 1762 remain to this day, having been held in the same family for generations with their original labels attached. The last and largest of these remaining bottles, known as “Grand Frère”, or the “Big Brother”, will headline Sotheby’s online sale, Distilled | Iconic Samaroli, Dalmore 62 and The World’s Oldest Cognac, open for bidding from 14 to 28 May 2020.
Estimated at £80,000-160,000, this bottle of one of the oldest surviving cognacs in the world has come to represent a piece of liquid history. With the little sister (“petite soeur”) housed in the Gautier Museum, and the little brother (“petit frère”) sold at auction in New York in 2014, the appearance of this bottle on the market is exceptional indeed. The winning bidding will also enjoy a bespoke experience at Maison Gautier, courtesy of the distillery.

The sale features an important Italian collection of Samaroli of a magnitude that is truly rare. Silvano Samaroli’s bottles are widely regarded as the greatest whiskies ever produced and as a result, they are now extremely scarce. The Dalmore 62 Year Old is one of the oldest whiskies to have been released from the Dalmore Distillery, with only 12 bottles made available. The sale will present Bottles #2, “The Mackenzie” and Bottle #5, “The Cromarty”, estimated at £75,000-100,000 per bottle.

Oldest Surviving Cognacs in the World to be Offered by Sotheby's
 

Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s Spirits Specialist, said: “The Gautier 1762 is renowned and revered across the world as a Cognac that transcends the world of spirits collecting. This bottle represents not only an example of pre-phylloxera viticulture but also of early cask maturation from the dawn of Gautier’s production and even precedes the French Revolution. This bottle contains a distillation not only of superb brandy but also of Cognac’s history.”

Comprising 216 lots, Distilled is estimated to bring a combined total in the region of £1.1 million.

 

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