Sotheby's Nightcap New York Totals Around €12.9 Million

A New Festival for Collectors

From 16 to 19 September 2026, Sotheby's held its first Nightcap in New York. The wine and spirits festival took place at the Breuer, the auction house's new headquarters on Madison Avenue, and paired five auctions with tastings and dinners for collectors. Together the sales reached around €12.9 million ($14.3 million), ahead of Sotheby's own forecast of around €7.9 to €11.3 million ($8.8 to $12.6 million). The prices quoted here include the buyer's premium; the estimates do not.

More than 250 guests came to the main wine and whisky tasting, with close to 100 wines and whiskies to try and a separate blind tasting. The single highest price went to a Japanese single malt, yet the whisky sale itself belonged to American whiskey.

Willett Takes Centre Stage

The Whisky & Whiskey sale, Featuring The Wax Top Collection, ran from 3 to 18 September and brought in around €2.6 million ($2.9 million). At its heart was a collection of Willett Family Estate bottlings that Sotheby's calls the largest of its kind ever put up for auction.

According to the auction house, no spirits sale in New York has ever made more. No spirits sale anywhere in the world had drawn as many registered bidders either.

Karuizawa 1960 “The Prototype” Leads the Field

The most expensive lot of the whole Nightcap was the Karuizawa 52 Years Old 1960 The Prototype Cask Nr.5627. On Friday, 18 September, it sold for around €562,000 ($625,000) against an estimate of around €359,000 to €539,000 ($400,000 to $600,000). Sotheby's places it among the priciest Japanese whiskies ever to go under the hammer.

Osami Uchibori, the last Master Distiller at Karuizawa, filled this bottle by hand from cask 5627 on 20 December 2012. Only two bottles are known to have been drawn like this, straight from the cask, before the whisky was officially bottled. At 58.3% ABV, The Prototype is stronger than the 41 bottles of the later release, which were bottled at 51.8% ABV.

More Highlights: Macallan, Karuizawa and a Charity Lot

The Macallan 52 Years Old 1946 Select Reserve was estimated at around €7,200 to €10,800 ($8,000 to $12,000) and made around €24,700 ($27,500), more than three times its low estimate. A second Karuizawa, The Last Masterpiece from cask 6017, distilled in 1970, reached around €61,800 ($68,750).

One lot was truly one of a kind: the Very Olde St. Nick Estate Reserve Vintage Collection. Inside are three Very Olde St. Nick 17 Year Old whiskeys, filled in one litre bottles for the first and only time, in a case of reclaimed chestnut made just for this sale. It fetched around €19,100 ($21,250), more than double its low estimate. The money goes to The Big Wave Project in Half Moon Bay, California, a nonprofit that gives adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities a home for life, day programmes and a community.

What the Numbers Say About the Market

97% of lots sold, and 62% went above their high estimate. Bidders took part from 27 countries, from the Middle East and Asia to Europe and North America. That continues the pattern of the first half of 2026, when Sotheby's Wine & Spirits made around €44.3 million ($49.25 million) across 29 auctions, up 7% on the year before. A quarter of bidders were new to the department, and so were 28% of buyers.

Nick Pegna, who leads wine and spirits for Sotheby's worldwide, put it this way: “From the extraordinary rarity of Karuizawa ‘The Prototype’ to landmark Burgundy, Bordeaux, Napa Valley and American whiskey offerings, the programme showcased the remarkable depth and diversity of today’s collecting landscape.”

For collectors, the top lots share one thing: a story that can be proven, whether a signed label with a handwritten guarantee or a large collection from a single source. The Wax Top result also shows that American whiskey can now carry a major auction on its own.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Sotheby's Nightcap?

A new wine and spirits festival that Sotheby's held for the first time in New York from 16 to 19 September 2026, with five auctions, tastings and dinners at the Breuer.

How much did the Nightcap auctions make?

Around €12.9 million ($14.3 million) together, above the high estimate. 97% of lots sold.

Which bottle fetched the highest price?

The Karuizawa 1960 “The Prototype” from cask 5627, at around €562,000 ($625,000). Osami Uchibori filled the bottle by hand on 20 December 2012.

Do the prices include the buyer's premium?

Yes. The prices achieved include the buyer's premium; the estimates do not.

Can I find bottles from the sale on Spiritory?

Yes, the Karuizawa 52 Years Old 1960 The Prototype Cask Nr.5627 and the Macallan 52 Years Old 1946 Select Reserve both have their own page on Spiritory.