NEWS
SOTHEBY’S SOLD 24 BOTTLES OF KWEICHOW MOUTAI FOR £1M IN LONDON TO AN ASIAN COLLECTOR
By Susan Lewis
22-6-2021
Source: Sotheby's
International auction house Sotheby’s sold 24 bottles of Kweichow Moutai ‘Sun Flower’ 1974 for £1 million (USD1.38 million) on 18 June in London. The hammer price is five times the pre-sale low estimate and is the highest price achieved at auction for a single lot of Moutai outside of China.
The lot attracted interest from 14 bidders, the successful buyer is a collector from Asia.
The lot, comprising 24 bottles of Kweichow Moutai ‘Sun Flower’ 1974, is the first Moutai lot to be presented for auction by Sotheby’s in the UK and also the most valuable Moutai lot the auction house has offered to date.
“Sun Flower" Moutai was first introduced in 1969, with the last batch coming out into the market around 1983. According to official records, 1974’s production for the export market is only 36.2 tons, compared with its total production of 664.5 tons, which makes it highly sought after.
Paul Wong, Sotheby’s Moutai specialist, said: “We have seen some spectacular results for Moutai sold in Hong Kong, but this momentous price takes the baijiu spirit’s standing amongst collectors to new heights. Whilst current travel restrictions may prevent our clients from moving around, this has proved no impediment to the growing momentum of Moutai’s popularity outside Asia.”
Housed in their original wooden crate, the bottles were the top lot in Sotheby’s “Rare Whisky & Moutai | Extraordinary Spirits from Asia & Scotland” sale, which brought in a total of £2,046,688.
Other notable lots included a bottle of The Macallan The Red Collection 78 Year Old, which sold for £68,750 and a bottle of Bowmore 50 Year Old Number 1 Vaults 1966 that achieved £43,750.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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