Karuizawa Geisha whisky set makes $142,000 in world first

A complete set of the Karuizawa Geisha series made $142,179 in a whisky sale at Bonhams Hong Kong earlier today.

The Karuizawa distillery was based in the mountain town of the same name in Japan's Nagano region.

Karuizawa whisky Bonhams
Karuizawa was one of Japan's most celebrated distilleries

It ceased production in 2000, but since that time various limited edition bottlings have been made available.

The bottles display bespoke artwork and have become highly collectible.

The series was previously only available in Taiwan, making this sale a major event for fans of Japanese whisky.

All were recently bottled from casks laid down years ago - with some dating back as far as the 1970s.

This is the first time a complete set has ever been offered at auction.

There were a wealth of other bottles from Japanese producers, including a set of four bottles from Hanyo's Malt of Clubs series that made $28,435.

A single bottle of Macallan 1961 achieved $28,437.

The lot is one of only 379 bottles to bear this date, all of which were tapped from two sherry hogshead casks.

It was sold alongside its original presentation case.

Macallan is one of Scotland's greatest distilleries and its classic malts regularly top auctions around the world.

The record for a whisky at auction is held by a Macallan M decanter that realised $628,205 in Hong Kong in 2015.  

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