Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask is a collectable Scotch whisky from Caol Ila aged 21 years. Based on 44 recorded auction lots across 24 months of trading data, the current median hammer price is £195, with the most recent sale at £215. Over the trading window, prices have ranged from £60 (low) to £270 (high). Accounting for lot-to-lot variation, a realistic valuation range for Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask is £172–£258 (±20% around the latest sale).
Year-on-year, Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask is up 19.4%, with a 6-month trend of +13.2% (up). wsky1 aggregates hammer prices from major public Scotch whisky auctions including Scotch Whisky Auctions, Whisky Auctioneer, and Bonhams. All prices are in GBP and exclude buyer's premium (typically 24–28% additional at major houses). Past auction performance is not a guarantee of future value.
Caol Ila is a whisky distillery. Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask is an age-stated bottling at 21 years old, distilled in 1981.
Single vintage
Distilled in a single year (1981), so the available batch is inherently finite.
Age statement
A 21-year age statement signals extended maturation, which limits how much was ever bottled.
Named / limited release
Released as caskfirst, a named edition rather than part of the standard core range.
These are scarcity and demand signals drawn from the bottle's own attributes — they describe the bottle, not a prediction of future price. Not investment advice.
Filter by source
Latest sale
£215
24-month median
£195
24-month high
£270
24-month low
£60
Estimated value · likely range
£172–£258 ±20%
Auction hammers swing lot to lot with condition, fill level and timing. Treat this band — not a single figure — as the bottle's value.
Seen at: Scotch Whisky Auctions · Whisky Hammer
Cross-house median
£195
Median hammer price blended across every recorded sale at all 2 auction houses below — a single figure that smooths house-to-house variation.
| Auction house | Price points | Latest hammer | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotch Whisky Auctions | 30 | £230 | £190 |
| Whisky Hammer | 10 | £200 | £200 |
| Month | Median | Lots |
|---|---|---|
| March 2026 | £215 | 4 |
| December 2025 | £210 | 2 |
| October 2025 | £190 | 2 |
| August 2025 | £240 | 2 |
| April 2025 | £220 | 2 |
| December 2024 | £190 | 4 |
| October 2024 | £190 | 2 |
| July 2024 | £270 | 1 |
| March 2024 | £230 | 2 |
| December 2023 | £210 | 1 |
| September 2023 | £230 | 1 |
| August 2023 | £230 | 1 |
More from Caol Ila
The latest hammer price for Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask at auction is £215. Across the most recent 24 months of auction data, the median hammer price is £195, with a high of £270 and a low of £60. All prices are in GBP and exclude buyer's premium. Data is aggregated from major auction houses including Scotch Whisky Auctions, Whisky Auctioneer, and Bonhams.
Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask is up 19.4% year-on-year based on monthly median hammer prices. Over the past 6 months it has moved up 13.2%. Past auction performance is not a guarantee of future value.
Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask regularly appears at major Scotch whisky auction houses including Scotch Whisky Auctions (Scotland), Whisky Auctioneer (Scotland), Just Whisky, Whisky Hammer, and Bonhams. The current median hammer price is £195 (excluding buyer's premium). At most major houses, buyer's premium adds 24–28% on top of hammer for the buyer; sellers typically receive the hammer price minus a sales commission of 5–15%.
Over the past 12 months Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask has moved up 19.4%, with a current median hammer price of £195. The bottle has been observed at auction across 44 recorded lots in our database. wsky1 provides hammer-price data for informational purposes only — not investment advice. Whisky is an illiquid alternative asset; secondary-market value depends heavily on bottle condition, fill level, label integrity, and timing.
wsky1 ingests public auction results from major auction houses (via direct scraping of Scotch Whisky Auctions, Whisky Auctioneer, Bonhams, and Whisky Hammer, plus aggregated data from WhiskyHunter). For each bottle, we group hammer prices by year-month and compute the median price per month. The figures shown — latest £215, 24-month median £195 — are derived from this monthly-median methodology. All prices are hammer prices in GBP, excluding buyer's premium.
No. All prices on wsky1 are hammer prices only. Buyer's premium at major Scotch whisky auction houses currently runs at 24–28% on top of the hammer price. A bottle of Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask that hammers at £215 would cost the buyer approximately £271 all-in including buyer's premium.
Own a bottle of Caol Ila 1981 21 Year Old First Cask?
Track it against live auction data and see your portfolio's real market value — free for up to 3 bottles.
Start tracking free →