A rare bottle of Yamazaki 50 Year Old has sold for HK$8.25 million, about US$1.05 million, setting a new world auction record for Japanese whisky.
The bottle, created exclusively for Club Natsume, an elite private club in Nagoya, Japan, was sold by Bonhams in Hong Kong on May 30 after bidding from three collectors. Its final price was almost double the upper end of its pre-sale estimate.
The result surpassed the previous record for a bottle of Japanese whisky, set in 2020 when a Yamazaki 55 Year Old sold for HK$6.2 million, about US$790,000.
Bonhams described the sale as a milestone for the market, with Amayès Aouli, the auction house’s global head of wine and spirits, saying the result underlined continued collector interest in rare Japanese whisky.
Yamazaki 50 Year Old is among the most sought-after releases from the Japanese distillery. The expression has been produced only three times, in 2005, 2007 and 2011, making surviving bottles especially desirable among collectors.
The 700ml Club Natsume bottle is believed to have been issued in the mid-2000s and remained in private hands until the sale. It carries a traditional washi-paper label and the signature of Shinji Fukuyo, chief blender at Suntory, Yamazaki’s parent company.
The whisky was matured in Japanese Mizunara oak and was sold in its original wooden case. According to auction details, the bottle was also accompanied by its neck tag.
Source: AMNA
