Yamazaki
Shopper shells out half a million dollars for a bottle of whiskey at the duty-free shop – and makes a bargain with it
The duty free area at an airport in Istanbul
© ugurhan / Getty Images
It’s a deal that doesn’t happen every day at the airport: a bottle of whiskey changes hands for a six-figure sum – in the duty-free shop of all places. It is not the first time that moon prices have been called in the duty-free area.
The fact that people in the duty-free area quickly grab a bottle of schnapps is not unusual, but that they spend six-figure sums when buying it. This happened recently at Istanbul Airport, where a customer shelled out $559,000 for a whisky. However, the buyer did not let himself be tricked, after all it was a rarity from the House of Suntory distillery, the pioneers of Japanese whisky. More precisely: a bottle of the already legendary Yamazaki 55 Years Old. The purchase is in some respects even a real bargain.
Because when it comes to rare whiskeys, there are sometimes other fabulous prizes in the room. Probably the most important name in the game at the moment: The Macallan. For no other whiskey in the world has ever more money been made than for a single malt from the house, which matured in the so-called sacred cask for six decades. There are just 40 bottles of the noble drop that was produced in 1926. For collectors, however, it is not only what is inside the bottles that is attractive, but also what is on the outside. Because twelve bottles each went to the artists Sir Peter Blake and Valerio Adami, who took care of the label design. And: Only 14 bottles bear the iconic Fine and Rare label. In order to get hold of one of these bottles, collectors have been digging deep into their wallets for years.
The hype about whiskey rarities
Before the big run on the bottles, they were sold individually for the almost ridiculously low price of £20,000 (around €24,000) by today’s standards. In the meantime you have to have a few more zeros on your account to even have a chance of a bottle. In 2019, a Macallan bottle from this bottling went under the hammer for almost 1.8 million euros. To this day, that’s a world record. A year earlier, Macallan had already made history when two bottles, each worth around one million, were sold – also in an airport shop, back then in Dubai.
The award-winning Yamazaki is also one of the most coveted and expensive whiskeys in the world. The Yamazaki 55 Year Old is the oldest single malt in the House of Suntory distillery’s range and pays homage to the house’s beginnings. The blend contains parts of the whiskey that the founder of the distillery, Sinijiro Torii, distilled in 1960 and part of a whiskey that his son is responsible for.
High collector’s value for whiskey fans
The amount is very limited. In 2020, 100 bottles were launched in Japan, and in 2021 Suntory followed up with another 100 bottles for the international market. The recommended retail price is the equivalent of almost 53,000 euros plus VAT and any customs duties. However, it soon became apparent after the release that this will not be the price for which the bottles change hands. At that time, a bottle was auctioned for 673,000 euros, the highest price ever paid for Japanese whiskey to date.
If that message made anyone think of a traveler with a briefcase full of bills, it wasn’t quite like that. Because behind it was not about a spontaneous purchase. The bottle (or rather a dummy) is said to have been exhibited on site, but interested parties were asked to place bids. Eight people took part in the bidding. Ultimately, a buyer from China is said to have been awarded the contract.
Source: The Drinks Business,Food&Wine, Suntory