Bell’s Decanters: Prince William’s birth (1982) and Queen’s 60th birthday (1986)

Bought: Whisky Auction, 24^th May 2017

Ratings:
Birth of Prince William, 1982:
82/100 – Whiskybase (from 1 member vote)

Queen Elizabeth’s 60^th Birthday 1986:
Not rated yet but listed on Whiskybase here.

Bell’s Decanters have arrived in my collection and the men in white coats are coming to take me away. Did I just go insane? But no whisky collection would be complete without one, even if the majority of people consider them to be a bit naff. This is probably why they don’t make much money at auction. I paid £11 for Prince William and £18 for the Queen’s 60th. Empty bottles sell for a similar price on Ebay. It seems weird to say they’re “yesterday’s antique” when they only appeared in the 1980s. Perhaps one day their value will bounce back but there seems to be a lot of them about. It’s time to buy them all up and smash them! Let’s reduce the numbers. I’m sure the royal family won’t mind.

The Bell’s decanter first appeared in the 1920s when it was made from blue glass and designed in a more traditional decanter shape. By the late 1930s the bottle began to take on a more bell-like appearance and was made from porcelain. By the 1950s Royal Doulton, a famous British porcelain manufacturer began making the Bell’s decanter in the brown and gold design seen in Ralfy’s video below. By 1960 Stode had taken over production and then in 1966 it was Wade of Stoke. The Christmas decanters (often seen at auction) began life in 1988, which is also the year the decanters started containing ‘Bell’s Extra Special Blended Scotch Whisky’. Prior to that it wasn’t extra special at all!

Both my examples are royal commemorative decanters, which Bell’s first produced for the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981. This was also the first time that white porcelain had been used and all the stock sold out in a matter of months. Given this fact it’s hardly surprising that Bell’s decided to continue the royal theme with a second decanter release in 1982 for the birthday of Prince William. A 3^rd release in 1984 commemorated the birth of Prince Harry and a 4^th and 5^th release in 1986 marked Queen Elizabeth’s 60^th birthday and the wedding of Prince Andrew and Miss Sarah Ferguson. Since then Bell’s have done several more regal releases.

I’ve heard Ralfy (of www.ralfy.com) describe himself as eccentric many times but he always comes across as being quite normal. Nevertheless he sometimes shows eccentricity with his purchases and he’s currently the only person I can find that’s done a review of a Bell’s decanter on YouTube. Here’s Ralfy’s decanter advice from October 2012:

Highland Park 1986 20-year-old ‘Premiers Choice’

Bought: Online Whisky Auction, 9^th December 2015

Ratings:
85.6/100 – Whiskybase (average from 17 member votes)

Distilled on the 1^st June 1986 and bottled on the 1^st June 2006, this 20-year-old Highland Park was sold exclusively to the Thailand market. Nearly 10 years later it’s made it back to the UK where I found it in an online auction. The ‘Premier’ referred to in the title of the bottle is clearly pictures on the label, the late great Sir Winston Churchill. Is he particularly well known in Thailand? And was he fond of Highland Park? All I’ve ever read about Sir Winston suggests he preferred a blend such as Johnnie Walker or Hankey Bannister but when has accuracy ever stood in the way of marketing!

85.6/100 on Whiskybase is a very good rating. One of the voters kindly provides this summary “a tad fruitier and less beefy/leathery peaty ness than the 18yo OB. It’s more accessible, yet drier. It’s almost engineered to me. It has dried apricot up front, which is new for me. I really like it, but it’s a shame they bottled this goodness at such low strength. It should have been at least 43 percent to give it the body like the 18 has over this. If you can buy this for less then 70 euros I would still recommend it over almost everything I know under it. It’s complete by assembly.”

Knockando 1986

Bought – Online Whisky Auction, 22nd December 2013

Last year I was all set to buy the latest version of the Knockando 12-year-old from Waitrose for £28 when I read Jim Murray’s review in his Whisky Bible. Scoring 76/100 his first word was “disappointing”. The 12-year-old distilled 2 years earlier got 86/100. I don’t know about you but when I’m clutching £28 in my hand, all set to buy something, and I hear it’s “disappointing” I decided to put my money elsewhere.

It was when I started following whisky auctions that I noticed lots of old Knockando bottings with dates on them – 1974, 1975, 1976, etc., available in both 70cl and miniature form. How interesting! According to my book on distilleries, Knockando started these ‘annual’ bottlings in the 1970s, mentioning the year of distillation rather than a specific age statement.

When I bought this miniature 1986 there were several other Knockando dated whiskies on offer. 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978 and 1980 to name but 5. I have to wonder if the idea behind doing this was for collecting. I can imagine getting bottles from several different years and wanting to find the ones I’m missing. I must resist! Thankfully I think I can. I’ll save my pennies until the 70cl 12yo gets a decent review again.