Yamazaki 50-year-old breaks auction record
A bottle of Yamazaki 50-year-old single malt has smashed the world record for the most expensive Japanese whisky sold at auction, fetching HK$2,337,000 (US$298,879).
A bottle of Yamazaki 50-year-old single malt whisky has fetched US$298,879The expression sold at twice its pre-sale estimate at Sotheby’s Finest & Rarest sale in Hong Kong on 27 January, where it was expected to fetch between HK$700,000 and HK$1,100,000 (US$90,000-US$140,000).
Other whiskies that went up for sale included The Macallan Millennium Decanter 50 Year Old 1949, which sold for HK$492,000 (US$62,922) and the Karuizawa Single Malt Whisky Aged 50 Years 1965, which went for HK$430,500 (US$55,057).
Paul Wong, specialist at Sotheby’s Wine, Asia, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the new world auction record set by the Yamazaki Aged 50 Years NV, the highest price achieved for any single bottle of Japanese whisky, illustrating a whisky market in full swing.”
Japanese whisky is known for shattering world records at auction. In April last year, the world’s largest known collection of Karuizawa set a new world record for the most expensive range of Japanese whisky sold at auction after fetching almost US$1 million.
