Japanese Whisky Smashes Auction Record

A single bottle of Yamazaki 50 year old set the new world record for the most expensive standard-sized bottle of whisky sold at auction. The record-breaking hammer price of $109,585/£84,520/HK$850,000 was set at Poly Auction, Hong Kong this month during their Prestige Collections sale (with buyer’s premiums added: HK$1,003,000).

The first release of Yamazaki 50 year old became the most expensive Japanese whisky on the market on its release in 2005, priced at ¥1,000,000, equivalent to approximately $9,500, or just 8.6% of its new record auction price. This Japanese single Maltwhisky was distilled in the 1950s and fully matured...