4th February, 2021 by Alice Liang
At Bonhams’ latest whisky sale, a bottle of Macallan Lalique 50 Year Old sold for HK$1,054,000, while, a 72-year-old whisky bottled by Gordon & MacPhail went under the hammer for HK$421,600.
The whisky sale was held in Hong Kong on 29 January.
The top lot was a classic Macallan Lalique 50 Year Old, which sold for an impressive HK$1,054,000, followed by Macallan Lalique Motor Car 1937 37 Year Old (HK$558,000).
The decanter of Glen Grant 1948 72 Year Old by Gordon & MacPhail was bottled in 2020 and this is the first time it has appeared at auction.
The bottle auctioned last month was numbered 88 of 290. Limited to 290 exclusive units only, the official global release of other bottles is currently scheduled for late March 2021.
It s true, whisky improves with age. The older the bottle, the better is the flavour of its complicated mixture. There is something about water, ethanol, and guaiacol that makes whisky one of the most loved liquors. And the addiction of smoky, spicy, peaty flavour is such that when a bottle of 72-year-old Glen Grant 1948 Single Malt Whisky by independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail went for auction, it fetched more than $54,000 Hong Kong Dollars that is over Rs 39 lakhs.
The beautiful warm amber took the centre stage at Bonhams auction in Hong Kong on January 29 as it is the first time that the 1948 Glen Grant whisky, was offered in an auction. The bottle has all the core values of Gordon & McPhail s and is 88 of the 290 exclusive of decanters bottled. The bottle is also especially auspicious, with the number 88 symbolising wealth in Chinese culture, wrote @bonhamswhiskyandwine on Instragram.
72 Year Old Glen Grant Scotch Takes Center Stage at Bonhams Hong Kong First Whisky Sale of 2021
72 Year Old Glen Grant Scotch Takes Center Stage at Bonhams Hong Kong First Whisky Sale of 2021
Bonhams first Whisky Sale of 2021 will highlight Scotch whisky in Hong Kong, and takes place on January 29th.
A decanter of Glen Grant-1948 a 72-year-old by Gordon & MacPhail is a headliner this year. This rare spirit was bottled in 2020 and is making its debut at the auction this year. The bottle is numbered 88 out of the 290 bottles made 88 is a symbolic number in Chinese culture which means wealthy. The 72-year-old has 52.6% alcohol by volume. The estimated retail price of this decanter sits at HK$300,000-380,000.
Gordon & MacPhail bottles 72YO Glen Grant Scotch 18th January, 2021 by Owen Bellwood
Scotch whisky bottler Gordon & MacPhail will debut its 72-year-old Glen Grant single malt at a Bonhams Hong Kong auction later this month.
Gordon & MacPhail has bottled a Glen Grant Scotch whisky from 1948
The Gordon & MacPhail 72 Year Old was distilled by Speyside producer Glen Grant in 1948. The whisky has since matured in an American oak ex-Sherry cask, which imparted ‘a deep amber hue’.
On the nose, the whisky has aromas of Christmas cake moistened with oloroso Sherry, with a slightly burnt base. On the palate, drinkers will find ‘a sweet taste at the start and a tannic, dry kick to finish with a surprising punch of spice, whispers of espresso and deep dark chocolate’.
Whisky is big business, and no more so than in 2020 it seems. With distilleries temporarily closing due to Covid restrictions and production slowing, casks produced in 2020 are predicted to become some of the rarest and most valuable in the future, believes cask whisky investment company Whiskey and Wealth Club.
While it will be some years before that prediction is proven true, 2020 has certainly been tumultuous, which could well see it remembered as a “significant time for the history of the whisky industry”, the company has said.
Predicting the future’s big selling drams is an inherently risky business, but what is clear is that the whisky investment has never been more buoyant, with returns typically outpacing wine, art and jewellery, with the value of whisky rising by 582% since 2009, according to Knight Frank’s 2019 Wealth Report.