NEWS
RAREST & OLDEST OF JAPANESE WHISKIES ON OFFER AT HK AUCTION IN MAY
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
20-4-2022
Source: Bonhams
A bottle of the very rare Yamazaki 50 Year Old (YO) First Release and a bottle of the distillery’s oldest 55 YO will go under the hammer at Bonhams Fine and Rare Wine and Whisky Sale to be held in Hong Kong on 20 May 2022.
The Yamazaki 50 YO First Release is believed to be the rarest expression of fine Japanese whisky still existing, with no more than a dozen of them still available in the market.
When it first hit the market in 2005, it was the oldest edition ever produced by Yamazaki distillery. There were only 50 bottles from the first release, many of which ended up in local whisky bars in Japan, where bottles after bottles were opened and enjoyed over the years.
Bonhams put an estimate of HKD3.5m to 4.5m (USD466,000 to 600,000) on this very rare bottle.
Christopher Pong, Head of Sale at Bonhams Wine and Whisky Department, commented: "The first edition of Yamazaki 50 YO is always eagerly sought after by collectors. I am expecting a lot of interest.”
There are three editions of Yamazaki 50YO. The first edition was bottled in 2005, the second in 2007 and the third in 2011.
Despite being the rarest of Yamazaki’s expressions, the Yamazaki 50 YO First Release is now not its oldest. The oldest is the Yamazaki 55 YO which set the auction record for a single bottle of Japanese whisky at a Bonhams auction in 2020 for HKD6.2m (USD 826,000).
In the upcoming May auction, a bottle of Yamazaki 55 YO will be on offer together with a miniature 50ml sample, with an estimate of HKD4m to 5m (USD533,000 to 666,000).
The estimate is substantially lower than the price achieved in the 2020 auction, this is because the Suntory Group, owner of Yamazaki distillery, has since released another lot of 100 bottles of Yamazaki 55YO.
After releasing the first batch of 100 bottles to Japanese domestic consumers through a lottery system in 2020, Suntory released another batch of 100 bottles in 2021 to the rest of the world also with a recommended retail price of USD60,000.
The latest reported sale of Yamazaki 55YO was by Unifree Duty Free shop at the Istanbul Airport to an unnamed customer from China earlier this year at a price of USD559,200, which is in line with Bonhams’ estimate.
Apart from Japanese whisky, the Bonhams May sale will also feature private collection of Aaron Chan, one of Asia's leading whisky collectors and owner of Club Qing in Hong Kong.
More than 220 lots of his collection will be on offer, highlights include:
• Bowmore 1955 in Ceramic Jug. One of the most iconic Bowmore with only 100 half-bottles ever produced. Estimate: HKD150,000-200,000
• Tormore Samaroli-1966. An ultra-rare and prestigious sherry-wooded whisky from the legendary Italian bottler. Estimate: HKD180,000-250,000
• Laphroaig Osteria Apostoli-1970. Arguably the best Laphroaig ever produced. Estimate: HKD180,000-250,000
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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