Rare Yamazaki Sets New Japanese Auction Record
A hammer price of $842,169 far exceeded all whisky bottle prices seen so far this year
May 31, 2026 –––––– Jonny McCormick
Yamazaki 50 year old Club Natsume set a new world record for the highest hammer price paid for a single bottle of Japanese whisky on May 30th, beating the previous record set in August 2020 by more than 30%. The Japanese whisky sold for a hammer price of $842,169/HK$6.6 million (HK$8.25 million including buyer’s premium) at Bonhams, Hong Kong. Auctioneer Sharon Chan led the proceedings at Six Pacific Place, as the bidding from Japanese whisky collectors surged past pre-sale estimates of $360,000–$530,000.
Yamazaki 50 year old Club Natsume was distilled in the mid-1950s at Japan’s oldest single malt whisky distillery and fully matured in Japanese mizunara oak. The custom bottling was created as a personal gift to mark the 50th anniversary of Club Natsume, a private members’ club in Nagoya, Japan, and was never intended for sale. Signed by the chief blender of Suntory, it carries the same ABV of 54% and wooden box as Yamazaki 50 year old First Release from 2005, but it has a washi paper label that makes it distinguishable from the Yamazaki 50 year old 2005, 2007, and 2011 releases. Yamazaki 50 year old became the most expensive whisky ever sold at auction in 2016, and again in early 2018, prior to the onset of the million-dollar Macallan era in May 2018.
Yamazaki 55 year old set the former record hammer price for Japanese whisky at $645,125 at the same auction house in 2020; that record stood for 2,108 days. The Yamazaki 50 year old Club Natsume’s record hammer price far surpassed the prices seen so far this year, surpassing the $130,000 paid for Old Rip Van Winkle 1982 20 year old for Sam’s Wines & Spirits in January, and the $102,089 for Macallan TIMESPACE 1940 84 year old.
The Legendary Japanese Whisky sale included only two lots, the other being Karuizawa 1960 52 year old Cask No. 5627 Treasure Ship, which sold for a hammer price of $638,007. Each of the 41 bottles created for this 2013 release carries its own characterful netsuke carved from the oak from the head of cask No. 5627.
After this record-breaking auction at Bonhams, Hong Kong collectors looking to acquire the next available bottle of this rare Karuizawa don’t have long to wait. Karuizawa 1960 52 year old Cask No. 5627 The Poet will be included in Whisky Auctioneer’s Kisetsu: Seasons of Japanese Whisky sale, which runs from June 12th until June 22nd.
