A rare 30 year whisky sherry hogshead cask from the famed Macallan Distillery will go under hammer next month at a Bonhams auction in Hong Kong, and is expected to fetch as much as HK$4.6 million.
Distilled in May 1989 and never since been moved from the distillery, it is currently one of the oldest editions of Macallan whisky cask available in the market.
The cask with perfect provenance can be stored at Macallan for as long as the buyer wishes, or yielded into a total of 261 bottles. The cask is estimated to fetch between HK$3.5 million and HK$4.6 million, according to the auction house.
Daniel Lam, Bonhams’ Director of Wine & Spirits, Asia, comments: “Whisky casks are trending because they offer much flexibility for collectors. Getting a good cask means that one can gain more quality bottles at a competitive price, or let it mature further to yield a higher value. The current 30 year Macallan cask is no doubt one of the finest of its kind available in the market yet.”
Bonhams currently holds the world auction record for a whisky cask, with An American Hogshead Cask from Macallan Distillery 1996–22 year old selling for HK$3,430,000 in Hong Kong in November 2018. The current cask on offer is an even older and rarer edition.
Two months ago, Bonhams set a new world auction record for a Japanese whisky collection, as Hanyu Ichiro’s Full Card Series sold for HK$7,192,000 to an Asian female collector, nearly doubling the previous record set in 2015, also by Bonhams.
The Fine & Rare Wine and Whisky sale will be held on November 15 at Bonhams Hong Kong.
