Not only did he sell the rare bottle of Irish Whiskey, he got over €20,000 for it….a 1880s bottle of Cassidy & Co Monasterevin whiskey, made in Ballykelly.
To be fair the bottle itself containing the Whiskey was also very rare so it prob drove the price up. Rumour has it…Bono touched it once, so that probably added €60 to the final price.
The hand-blown, unopened bottle is one of only two known such bottles – the other is housed in the Irish Whiskey Museum.
Rare Whiskey and vintage spirits sales/auctions continue to be a big market in Ireland and the rest of the world and the doubters within our team think this could have been just a marketing gimmick to help raise awareness of the recently restored Ballykelly Mill.
Either way it’s getting good PR and its also nice to see some historical Irish brands find new life hundreds of years after their birth.
The Whiskey was part of the Clermont Collection Rare Advertising, Pub Memorabilia and Architectural Fittings sale at Victor Mee Auctions in Cavan.
