{"id":1992416,"date":"2026-06-15T16:20:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T13:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1992416"},"modified":"2026-06-15T16:20:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T13:20:57","slug":"this-rare-japanese-whisky-sold-for-a-record-setting-1-m-in-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1992416","title":{"rendered":"This Rare Japanese Whisky Sold for a Record-Setting $1 M. in Hong Kong"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Sharon-Chan-hammering-down-the-Yamazaki-50-Year-Old-\u2013-Exclusively-Created-for-Club-Natsume.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n\tA unique bottle of Yamazaki 50 Year Old single-malt whisky created exclusively for Club Natsume, an elite private club in Nagoya, Japan, nearly doubled its high estimate recently to fetch HK$8,250,000, or about $1 million, after a contest involving three bidders at Bonhams Hong Kong.. That broke the previous record, HK$6,200,000 (about $790,000), set at Bonhams Hong Kong in 2020 for a Yamazaki 55-Year-Old. The sale occurred May 30.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBreaking the world record for a Japanese whisky at auction is an important milestone,\u201d said Amay\u00e8s Aouli, global head of wine and spirits, in press materials. \u201cIt is also another powerful signal of Bonhams\u2019 commitment to shaping the future of fine wine and spirits auctions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 50 Year Old is the distillery\u2019s second-oldest expression, created only three times, in 2005, 2007, and 2011. This particular example, in a 700 ml bottle, bears a washi label and is signed by Shinji Fukuyo, chief blender at Japanese distiller Suntory, parent company to Yamazaki. This bottle is believed to have been released in the mid-2000s, says the auctioneer, and has been in private hands ever since. The whisky was aged in the finest Japanese Mizunara oak, and the bottle came in its original wooden presentation case, accompanied by a scuffed neck charm and original pouch.<\/p>\n

\n\tClub Natsume, nicknamed \u201cJapan\u2019s Chamber of Commerce for Nightlife,\u201d was founded in 1953.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>
Yamazaki 50 Year Old.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tAnother lot also performed very well: Karuizowa 52 Year Old Cask #5627, 1960 \u2013 Treasure Ship, estimated at HK $3.2 million (about $408,420), fetched HK$6,250,000, or about $797,000.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBonhams now holds the top three prices ever achieved at international auction for a bottle of Japanese whisky,\u201d notes the house in press materials.<\/p>\n

\n\tYamazaki became the first malt whisky producer in Japan when it opened in 1923. Its products have risen exponentially in value, as Sotheby\u2019s pointed out in 2023, calling its 50 Year Old First Release \u201cthe peak of rare, collectible Japanese whisky.\u201d Only about a dozen bottles remained from the original 50, said Sotheby\u2019s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/market\/rare-japanese-whisky-sold-record-bonhams-hong-kong-1234789262\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Sharon-Chan-hammering-down-the-Yamazaki-50-Year-Old-\u2013-Exclusively-Created-for-Club-Natsume.jpg?w=1024″] A unique bottle of Yamazaki 50 Year Old single-malt whisky created exclusively for Club Natsume, an elite private club in Nagoya, Japan, nearly doubled its high estimate recently to fetch HK$8,250,000, or about $1 million, after a contest involving three bidders at Bonhams Hong Kong.. That broke the previous record, HK$6,200,000 (about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-1992416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1992416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992416\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1992416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1992416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1992416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}