Yamazaki 50 Year Old nearly doubled top estimate at HK$8.25m, a Japanese whisky record

A unique Yamazaki 50 Year Old made for Club Natsume sold for HK$8.25m (about US$1.05m) at Bonhams in Hong Kong on 30 May 2026, a world auction record for a bottle of Japanese whisky, according to the house.

Bonhams had estimated the bottle at HK$2.8m to HK$4.2m, and said the price nearly doubled the high estimate. Three collectors bid for it, in the room and on the phones. Bonhams did not say whether the price includes the buyer’s premium, and its release names no previous record.

The Legendary Japanese Whisky sale also sold a Karuizawa 52 Year Old from cask 5627, dated 1960 and known as Treasure Ship. It made HK$6.25m (about US$797,000) against an estimate of HK$2.2m to HK$3.2m, so both bottles sold above their high estimates. Together they made HK$14.5m.

Bonhams described the Karuizawa as the oldest the now-closed distillery has released, and as one of only 41 bottles. That gives later sales of the same release a public price to be set against. The Yamazaki is unique, so it has no sibling bottle to compare with.

Spear’s reported that a bottle of The Macallan 1926 sold for £2.2m in November 2023. That price is in sterling and comes from a different sale, so the Yamazaki’s record stands for Japanese whisky only, not for whisky as a whole.