Bonhams wine and whisky sales top £16m in 2019

Auction house Bonhams saw its global wine and whisky sales reach £16 million (US$21.3m) in 2019 – a £1m (US$1.3m) increase on the previous year.

A cask of The Macallan filled in 1989 sold for £440,380 (US£572,000/ HK$4.5m) at Bonhams

Among the auctioneer’s most notable sales last year was a bottle of The Macallan Peter Blake 1926 60-year-old Scotch whisky, which fetched £615,063 (US$808,091) when it went under the hammer in Edinburgh in March.

Another Macallan sale also drew global attention – a 30-year-old Sherry hogshead – which set a new world record for the most expensive whisky cask sold at auction with a sale of £440,380 (US£572,000/ HK$4.5m) at Bonhams Hong Kong in November.

The whisky was distilled in May 1989 and the cask has been stored at the distillery since its sale. It is thought to have a potential yield of 261 bottles.

Furthermore, Hanyu Ichiro’s Full Card Series set a new world record for a Japanese whisky collection at auction when it was bought by an Asian collector for HK$7,192,000 (£755,000/ US$917,000) at the Bonhams Fine & Rare Wine and Whisky Sale in August.

Richard Harvey, Bonhams international head of wine and master of wine, said: “This has been another good year for Bonhams’ wine and whisky departments, with eye-catching results underpinned by a strong performance across the field.

“Looking ahead, we already have some exciting sales lined up for 2020.”