Kinsale Spirits is jumping on the NFT hype train, with an upcoming rare whiskey auction. Rare whiskies always draw attention but the addition of NFTs into the equation makes this a groundbreaking auction.
While NFT liquor auctions have occurred before, the major selling point has been the custom bottle art and not so much the quality of the spirit within.
Kinsale Spirits is taking a different approach to NFT liquor sales by offering a rare 20-year old single malt. Opening bids start at $10,000 and reportedly mark a first for both digital currency and spirits. If $10,000 seems a bit high for a jumping-off point at a whiskey auction it should be mentioned that this is not any bottle of whiskey.
Kinsale Spirits are set to make history
It’s not a bottle at all.
The auction is not for a 750Ml bottle of whiskey that you could buy in stores or even a specially made container. Instead, it is for an entire cask of their top-shelf liquid gold, containing around 200 liters of the good stuff. Enough to fill around 255 regular-sized whiskey bottles.
The rare cask is one of the few that remain from Cooley’s original distillery in Louth. Described by the sellers as a rare piece of history, the whiskey, “Pallet No. 14730,” is from 2001 and resides in an ex-bourbon barrel.
The listing on Opensea describes the single malt as being one of very few left in circulation. The flavor is described as beautifully smooth, with a soft, yet sweet, candy finish and fruit flavors such as sultana, red apples, and ripe bananas.
The company is using this auction not only to raise brand awareness but also to raise 60,000 euros (roughly $72,500) to fund a new gin distillery project. The company has invested around 2 million euros ($2.4 million) so far on the venture.
In an interview with The Irish Times, co-founder of Kinsale Spirits, Ernest Cantillon, spoke about his hopes that the Asian market will drive the price. Cantillon said:
“I would be hopeful that bidders in Asia, in particular, could be interested in this. It is a rare whiskey which in itself makes it a good investment but then of course if it captures the imagination then hopefully we get many multiples of its face value.”
Cantillon went on to say he was banking on Chinese bidding interest due to the untapped market for Irish Whiskey and Kinsale’s business relationships in the Far East.
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