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The Sherry Cask Premium: What 365,000 Auction Lots Show About Cask Type and Price
Sherry cask whisky sells for about one and a half times as much at auction as bourbon cask whisky, at every age. Where the much bigger gap in the averages comes from, from sold lots.
Sherry cask whisky has a reputation for costing more, and at auction it does. The question for a buyer is how much more, and how much of that comes with things other than the cask: older whisky, a handful of famous sherried brands, and a few very expensive bottles that pull the average up.
Sherry-seasoned casks are often described as costing a distiller more than ex-bourbon barrels, but cask prices are not published, so this guide does not quote them (see sherry casks in whisky for how the casks are made). What can be measured is what bottles from each kind of cask sell for.
The figures come from 364,690 sold lots at Scotch Whisky Auctions with a recorded cask type, August 2011 to October 2026. Whisky Auctioneer does not record cask type, so it is not included. Hammer prices exclude buyer’s commission, VAT and delivery.
Sherry against bourbon, all ages
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| Cask | Lots sold | Median hammer | Average hammer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherry cask | 142,390 | £140 | £359 |
| Bourbon cask | 79,745 | £95 | £185 |
| Sherry as a multiple of bourbon | 1.47 | 1.94 |
Lots matured in both, such as a bourbon cask whisky finished in sherry, are left out of both rows. The median is the middle sale. It is the better guide to a typical bottle, because a small number of very expensive sherried lots pull the average up.
At the same age
Older whisky sells for more, so it is worth checking that the sherry lots are not simply older. They are, but only a little: a median of 16 years against 15 for bourbon cask lots with an age statement. Compare lots of the same age and the sherry median is higher at every age:
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| Age | Sherry median | Bourbon median | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 to 9 years | £70 | £60 | 1.17 |
| 10 to 12 years | £85 | £65 | 1.31 |
| 13 to 14 years | £100 | £70 | 1.43 |
| 15 to 18 years | £150 | £95 | 1.58 |
| 19 to 20 years | £210 | £120 | 1.75 |
| 21 to 25 years | £210 | £155 | 1.35 |
| 26 to 30 years | £360 | £210 | 1.71 |
| 31 to 40 years | £600 | £340 | 1.76 |
Taking all ages together, weighted by the number of lots, the sherry median is 1.50 times the bourbon median, about the same as the 1.47 across all lots. So age does not explain the gap in typical prices. What age and a few very expensive lots do explain is the much bigger gap in the averages (1.94 times).
Two things narrow the gap. Macallan alone is 22% of the sherry lots; leave it out (and compare 70cl bottles only) and the multiple is 1.42. Among independent bottlings only, it is 1.25.
What it means if you are buying
A typical sherry cask lot sells for about one and a half times a bourbon cask lot of the same age. The much bigger gap in the averages comes from a few very expensive sherried bottles, and part of the typical gap comes from sherried brands such as Macallan. Among independent bottlings of the same age, it is 1.25 times. If you like sherried whisky, comparing like with like (same age, same bottler) is the way to see what the cask itself adds.
For sherried bottles in stock at UK shops now, with today’s prices, see the best sherry cask whiskies.
Sources and review
Questions
Does sherry cask whisky sell for more at auction than bourbon cask whisky?
Is the sherry premium just because sherry cask whisky is older?
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