Whisky auction headlines usually belong to unicorn single malts. You know, your Macallans and Karuizawas, and they’re typically trading hands for the price of a starter home in the midwest. But the sale we’re most fascinated by this fall is different story entirely – it’s a blend.
It’s around 3,200 pieces of one blend, actually, amassed by a single collector over two decades and heading to Scotland’s Whisky Auctioneer this September as The Johnnie Walker Collection: One Hundred Years of Striding.
From One Blue Label to 1,600 Bottles
The whole thing traces all the way back to 1999, when California collector Frans Op den Kamp picked up a $130 bottle of Blue Label in New York on his way home from a business trip. Twenty-some years later, he’s the guy other collectors and industry veterans call when a bottle needs dating, valuing, or authenticating.
And that expertise shines through here in the scope of the collection. We’re talking over 1,600 full-size bottles, 600-plus miniatures, and north of 1,000 pieces of advertising and memorabilia, stretching from early 1900s Old Highland Whisky bottlings all the way to modern limited editions.
The Deep Cuts
For the label historians, there are more than 100 pre-1968 corked Black, Red, and Swing bottlings, plus roughly 280 Blue Labels, 200 Reds, and 500 Blacks charting the core range decade by decade. There are even ultra rare single malt bottlings from Cardhu, Talisker, and Mortlach that name-check John Walker right on their original labels.
There are also a few bottles in the collection that money famously couldn’t buy. The 1805 Celebration Blend, created for the 200th anniversary of John Walker’s birth, was limited to 200 bottles that were only gifted to select individuals. Johnnie Walker never sold them to the public. And the Signature Blend by F1 champ Jenson Button? There just 25 bottles in existence, all of which were offered by private invitation in Shanghai.
A Century of Striding
Rounding out the affair is that massive advertising archive, which tracks the Striding Man from his 1908 debut through today. Taken together, it’s a physical biography of how a Kilmarnock grocery shop became the world’s best-selling Scotch.
And Whisky Auctioneer is no stranger to landmark whiskey sales. This is the same Perth house that moved a Macallan 1926 for £1 million during 2021’s Perfect Collection auction, so we expect the bidding to get run up quickly.
Spec Sheet
Collection: The Johnnie Walker Collection: One Hundred Years of Striding
Collector: Frans Op den Kamp
Total Items: 3,200+
Full-Size Bottles: 1,600+
Miniatures: 600+
Advertising & Memorabilia: 1,000+
Notable Lots: 1805 Celebration Blend, Signature Blend by Jenson Button, pre-1968 corked Black, Red & Swing bottlings
Auction House: Whisky Auctioneer
Auction Dates: September 11-21, 2026
Pricing & Availability
Bidding opens September 11th and runs through the 21st, with no published estimates just yet, so where the hammer lands is anyone’s guess. Head over to Whisky Auctioneer’s website to register and browse the lots ahead of time.
Recap
The Johnnie Walker Collection: One Hundred Years of Striding
One collector’s 3,200-piece Johnnie Walker archive, spanning pre-1968 corked bottlings to a 25-bottle Jenson Button blend, hits Whisky Auctioneer this September.
