At the Bonhams Whisky Sale in Hong Kong on Friday, a new world record was set for the most expensive bottle of Japanese whisky sold at auction when a 50-year-old Yamazaki single malt fetched HK$2,695,000 (US$343,318).
The bottle smashed its pre-sale estimate of HK$1,800,000-HK$2,400,000 (US$229,310-US$305,749), according to the Spirits Business.
The $343K bottle overtakes the previous world record of HK$2,450,000 (US$312,105) set by Bonhams earlier this year.
What allows this whisky, produced by Suntory’s Yamazaki distillery in Osaka and released in 2005, to pick up such a fat stack of cash is its rarity: Only 50 bottles were produced, and it is believed to be the oldest Yamazaki expression on the market.
“This new world record for a bottle of Japanese whisky – just a few months after we set the previous one – and the world record we set for Scotch whisky in May demonstrate that the auction market for single malt whisky is in good health,” Daniel Lam, Bonhams head of fine wine and whisky, said.
The world record for Scotch whisky was set in May when a Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60-year-old sold for HK$8,636,250 (US$1,100,197).
