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Auction Update March 17, 2023: Rare Yamazaki Sets the Pace in Paris

Auction Update March 17, 2023: Rare Yamazaki Sets the Pace in Paris

March 17, 2023 –––––– Jonny McCormick, , , ,

Sotheby’s, Paris set a new highest price of the year this week with the online sale of a Yamazaki 55 year old for $343,129. This is the first bottle of this limited-edition whisky to sell in 2023, but it’s always worth watching as it set the highest hammer price bottle for Sotheby’s, Zachys, and Bonhams in 2022. All three bottles of Yamazaki 55 year old sold by Sotheby’s in 2022 were sold in New York, with prices peaking at $480,000 in June.

Sotheby’s, Hong Kong

Auction ended March 7th
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Celtic Whiskey Auctions

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Auction ended March 8th

Unicorn Auctions

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Auction ended March 12th

Scotch Whisky Auctions

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Auction Ended March 12th

Lot of the Week

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Only 100 bottles of Yamazaki 55 year old were released in 2020, and they have the capacity to outclass anything else in the auction catalog to the extent that they are sometimes sold in special one-of-one auctions. The first-ever sale is now regarded as one of the most audacious acts of flipping in whisky auction history. Sotheby’s has now handled five sales of Yamazaki 55 year old, more than any other auction house.

Lot: Yamazaki 55 year old
Sold at: March 14th at Sotheby’s, Paris
Hammer Price: $343,129

Upcoming Auctions

Bottles to watch in auctions ending in the next week:

March 18th, Unicorn Auctions: W.L. Weller 19 year old. The 2002 release from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection.

March 19th, Irish Whisky Auctions: Midleton Very Rare Vintage 1988. One of the hardest vintages to find in the Midleton Very Rare collection.

March 20th, Just Whisky: Midleton Very Rare Vintage 2023. Whereas this is one of the first auction appearances of the latest vintage.

March 22nd, Whisky Online Auctions: Macallan Millennium 1949 50 year old. Incredibly, this auction has two of these decanters on sale.

March 23rd, Christies, Hong Kong: Ocean Whisky Karuizawa 1965 21 year old. Bottled by Ocean Whisky long before Karuizawa became collectible, this is a rare age statement bottling from from the 1980s.

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