What is the auction record for Yamazaki 50 Year Old?

When it comes to the auction record of Yamazaki 50-year, it's truly a legendary figure in the whisky world.

The current highest publicly known auction record was set in 2018 at a Bonhams auction in Hong Kong. At that time, a bottle of Yamazaki 50-year, first released in 2005, ultimately sold for HKD 2,695,000.

Converted at the exchange rate back then, it was approximately over 2.3 million RMB. This price directly broke the world auction record for a single bottle of Japanese whisky at the time.

You might be wondering, why can a bottle of liquor sell for such an exorbitant price?

This can be viewed from several aspects:

Extreme Rarity: Yamazaki 50-year itself is an extremely rare commodity. Imagine, a cask of whisky needs to rest peacefully in an oak barrel for a full half-century, during which a significant amount of liquid evaporates (known as the "Angel's Share"). Consequently, very little is left for bottling. The bottle that fetched the sky-high price in 2018 was also the first release in 2005, with only 50 bottles ever produced, each individually numbered, belonging to the "first generation" (初代目), making its rarity absolutely paramount.
Time Cost: The liquid inside this bottle was distilled over 50 years ago. It quietly lay in the cellar for half a century, absorbing the essence of the oak barrel and witnessing history. This fifty-year period of maturation itself represents an irreplaceable value.
Brand Prestige: Yamazaki is the "pioneer" of Japanese whisky, holding a status comparable to Moutai in the world of Baijiu. Its quality and reputation are top-tier globally. Therefore, Yamazaki's ultra-aged whiskies naturally become the ultimate pursuit for collectors.

In simple terms, it's the combination of "top brand + super long aging + extremely limited quantity" that created such an astonishing auction record. Although other versions of Yamazaki 50-year (such as the 2007 and 2011 editions) have also fetched high prices since then, the 2018 event remains the universally acknowledged peak moment when discussed.