The Demeter Collection is the world’s first auction of whiskies exclusively made by and to honour women, featuring 18 exclusive lots to be auctioned on Whisky Auctioneer to celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.
To celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, leading online whisky and spirits auction platform Whisky Auctioneer announced that it will be hosting the world’s very first auction dedicated to spotlighting and recognising the achievements and contributions of women to the whisky sector. Held in partnership with OurWhisky Foundation – a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting, recognising and empowering professional women in whisky – the auction will see a total of 18 lots offered up that will give whisky enthusiasts and collectors around the world a rare chance to acquire unique bottles while supporting a very worthy cause.
Named after the Greek goddess of agriculture and grain, The Demeter Collection is a carefully curated set of exclusive special releases. Each bottle in the collection is not only a remarkable achievement in whisky making in their own right, but also tells compelling stories of the women that made them.
For some of these women, the whisky marks an important milestone in their professional lives.
Among the 18 lots are:
- The Dalmore 44 Year Old, a commemorative bottling celebrating whisky maker Margaret Nicol’s 50 years in whisky,
- The Aberfeldy 40 Year Old, the distillery’s oldest release and signed by Stephanie Macleod, named by the IWC as Master Blender of the Year for five years running,
- The Glendronach 1993, a single cask bottling distilled in 1993, the year master blender Rachel Barrie was given the opportunity to research sherry cask maturation,
- Arbeg Twenty, created by master blender Gillian Macdonald – as an homage to the hugely popular Uigedail – to mark her 20th year as a whisky maker,
- CRN57, a 57-year old blended malt from The Cairn Distillery created by Lizzie Haw and Mhairi Winters from Gordon & MacPhail,
- Loch Lomond Sonata, a trio of 30-year old peated single malts by whisky blender Ashley Smith, and
- House of Hazelwood The Long View, a 31-year old blend honouring the legacies of William Grant & Sons’ Kirsten Grant-Meikle, Eilidh Muir and the late Janet Sheed Roberts
“Through the Demeter Collection we want to honour the grain goddess and tell the untold stories of women in whisky, while raising much-needed funds to enable the OurWhisky Foundation to support, recognise and empower future generations of women in the industry,” shares Becky Paskin, founder of the OurWhisky Foundation.
“Historically, our industry has lacked diversity, and that’s something we’re determined to change. To that end, we are thrilled to host this auction and shine a spotlight on the stories of women within our industry,” says Joe Wilson, Head Curator and Spirits Specialist at Whisky Auctioneer.
“The Demeter Collection is an exciting group of one-of-a-kind and collectible bottlings from very diverse distilleries. Our hope is that this auction will not only catch the attention of enthusiasts and collectors worldwide to raise important funds for The OurWhisky Foundation, but also inspire current and future generations of women in whisky,” Wilson adds.
This inaugural auction of The Demeter Collection will run from March 29 to April 8 at www.whiskyauctioneer.com. Funds raised from the auction, including Whisky Auctioneer’s buyer’s fees, will be donated to the OurWhisky Foundation in support of its work providing initiatives and projects that support women working in whisky. You can also visit ourwhiskyfoundation.org for further details about the lots.
[Photo credits: Whisky Auctioneer]
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