A bottle of Hennessey Grande Champagne cognac from 1905 has sold well as part of Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions' sale of fine and rare armagnac, cognac and malt whisky on October 31.

It is unusual for Hennessey to use one of its aged cognacs for a single vintage bottle - they are normally employed for blending

The cognac was presented to the owner of the famed racehorse Mill House, following his win at the Hennessey Gold Cup at Newbury Racecourse in 1963. It sold for £3,450 ($5,546).

According to the auction house's research, this is probably the only existing single vintage bottling outside of the Hennessey family's reserves. The family normally used their barrels of aged spirit to blend into their top products, rather than for single vintage bottles such as this.

Although the cognac is valuable in itself, its sale price was undoubtedly boosted by its racing heritage, with the market for horse racing memorabilia ever-buoyant.

Paul Fraser Collectibles has a spectacular selection of horse racing memorabilia for sale.