SALE OF ICONIC WHISKY AT BONHAMS EDINBURGH TO AID JAPANESE QUAKE AND TSUNAMI VICTIMS

The sale of a £13,000 bottle of Gordon & MacPhail Generations Glenlivet 70 Years Old, launched earlier this month, is to be auctioned at a special evening at Bonhams, Edinburgh on 29 March in aid of the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Family owned whisky specialists Gordon & MacPhail unveiled the iconic Single Malt Whisky at Edinburgh Castle on 8 March. Distilled in 1940, only 100 full sized decanters have been released for sale in 2011. Decanter number 1 of 100 has been presented for this special event.

Michael Urquhart, Joint Managing Director of Gordon & MacPhail, had been due to fly to Japan to launch the whisky when the tragedy struck. He had the idea of auctioning the bottle in Scotland to raise much needed money for the relief effort. The proceeds will be donated to the British Red Cross Japan Appeal. The special, single item, charity auction will be held at Bonhams, 22 Queen Street, Edinburgh on Tuesday evening 29 March at 7.00pm GMT to allow buyers in the USA and the Far East to take part. Bonhams are giving their services for free.

Michael Urquhart said, “Gordon & MacPhail has had trading relationships with Japan for over thirty years and members of our family-owned business felt it was important to show our support and raise funds to aid the relief. I think we all feel helpless in the face of a tragedy like this so it is good to be able to do something practical. I hope people will respond generously.”

Bonhams Managing Director in Scotland, Miranda Grant, who lived in Japan as a child, said, “We’re just pleased to be able to help Everyone has been shocked by the scenes of devastation and the loss of life and we’re all hoping to raise a good sum.”

Norman McKinley, director of the Red Cross in Scotland, said, “This is an extremely generous gesture by Gordon & MacPhail and Bonhams. The massive earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck Japan have caused widespread destitution and suffering.

“The costs of the relief effort and of rebuilding the homes and lives of those affected will be immense. Donations to the British Red Cross will be used towards helping the Japanese people recover from this devastating natural disaster over the coming months and years.”

The charity auction itself will be preceded by a reception at 6.00 and a talk at 6.40 by the renowned whisky connoisseur Charles Maclean.

For further sale information please go to www.bonhams.com/scotland

For further press information please contact Andrew Currie on 0207 468 5871 or andrew.currie@bonhams.com or press@bonhams.com

NOTES 

Bonhams

Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world’s oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further five throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Boston in the USA; Toronto, Canada; and France, Monaco, Hong Kong, Australia and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com (February 2010).

Gordon & MacPhail

Gordon & MacPhail is an independent, family-owned spirit and wine merchant who have been based in Elgin, Moray, since 1895. Four generations of the Urquhart family have continued the tradition of seeking out the best and rarest Scotch whiskies.

Since its foundation, Gordon & MacPhail’s policy has been to send casks to distilleries throughout Scotland, fill them with ‘new make’ spirit and mature them either at the distillery of origin or in the firm’s own bonded warehouses in Elgin.

Now one of the world’s leading malt whisky specialists, Gordon & MacPhail exports to more than 40 countries. It offers more than 450 presentations of own-bottled single malts and has a stock-holding of more than 700 whiskies.

British Red Cross: in the event that the British Red Cross receives more donations to the Japan Tsunami Appeal than the Japanese Red Cross and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement can reasonably and efficiently spend, any surplus funds will be used to help us prepare for and respond to humanitarian disasters both here in the UK and overseas.