Rare Japanese whisky and scotch drams are commanding astronomical prices at auctions. When the hammer drops, world records are shattered. Here, we have rounded up five of the most expensive whiskies ever sold in the world, with the current record-holder at US$1.9 million a bottle.
No. 5 Yamazaki 50 Year Old – sold for US$429,798
This rare whisky by Japan’s oldest distillery Yamazaki, which is based in Osaka and founded in 1923, is believed to be the oldest expression of Yamazaki on the market. Released in 2005, this is one of the 50 bottles produced by the distillery. Aged in mizunara oak casks (Japanese oak), the whisky was was sold in August 2018 by auction house Bonhams in Hong Kong for HKD 2.659 million (US$343,000), surpassing its previous high estimate of of HKD 2.4 million. This set a world record for most expensive Japanese whisky at the time.
Just a year later, a second bottle of the same whisky was sold in Taipei for NT$13.51m (about US$429,798), shattering the previous world record.
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