Bonhams to auction ‘oldest’ whisky bottled in Japan
Yamazaki 55 Years Old is said to be the oldest and most valuable whisky ever bottled in Japan, with Bonhams expecting the auction price to exceed US$250,000.
The whisky is part of the auction house’s Whisky Immortal: The World’s Most Coveted Spirits series, which will run from 31 May to 12 June.
The House of Suntory first released 200 bottles of Yamazaki 55 in 2020. One hundred were reserved for Japan, while the rest went to select markets including the US, UK, China and Taiwan.
In August 2020, Bonhams Hong Kong auctioned one of those bottles for HK$6.2 million (US$795,000), making it the most expensive Japanese whisky sold at auction.
The House of Suntory founder Shinjiro Tojii distilled the whisky in 1960, which was then aged in a Japanese mizunara oak cask. His son and Suntory’s second master blender, Keizo Saji, moved the liquid into white oak casks in 1964.
The whisky’s profile is said to feature sandalwood and well-ripened fruit on the nose with a palate of sweet and slightly bitter notes.
It is presented in a crystal bottle engraved with ‘Yamazaki’ in calligraphy. The bottle’s opening is wrapped in handmade Echizen washi paper and bound with a Kyo-kumihimo braided cord – a traditional craft from Kyoto. The bottles are then packaged in bespoke boxes made from native Japanese mizunara wood and coated with Suruga lacquer.
Suntory’s fifth-generation chief blender Shinji Fukuyo, who worked closely with Tojii on the whisky’s development, said: “While I often view other extra-aged whiskies as art, I consider Yamazaki 55 to be more like a Buddhist statue: calm and mysterious, requiring time to truly enjoy the inner beauty.”
The bottle that Bonhams will auction is the first in complete packaging to be offered in the US.
Last year, Bonhams also offered the ‘world’s rarest’ Japanese whisky set, which featured Hanyu Ichiro’s Malt Full Card Series.
In 2023, exports of Japanese whisky slowed for the first time, which has raised questions about whether the category has peaked.
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