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SOUGHT-AFTER JAPANESE AND SCOTCH WHISKIES

LEAD SOTHEBY’S SALES ON 18 MARCH 2020 

*Featuring the oldest Macallan and Karuizawa ever bottled*

 Finest & Rarest Spirits

Highlighted by:

Karuizawa 52 Year Old Cask #5627 Zodiac Rat 1960

*Coinciding with the Year of the Rat in the Chinese Zodiac Calendar*

Four Private Collection Decanters Numbered “1” Directly from Gordon & MacPhail

Complete Collection of The Macallan Six Pillars and the Macallan 72 Year Old 

Finest & Rarest Spirits

87 Lots with a Pre-Sale Estimate of £842,420 – 1.6 Million

Sotheby’s Finest & Rarest Spirits features the oldest Macallan and Karuizawa ever bottled alongside landmarks of luxury in the world of whisky.

Jonny Fowle, Sotheby’s Spirits Specialist, commented: “We are delighted to present such a strong selection of bottles consigned directly from producers as well as from private collections to begin our 2020 sales in London. Among the most exciting bottles in this sale are the Gordon & MacPhail Private Decanters, all of which are numbered 1 of their respective outturn. This is the first time that any number 1 decanter from G&M has been offered for sale rather than kept within the Urquhart Family archives. Offering these alongside such iconic bottles as Karuizawa 52 Year old from Cask #5627 and so many Macallan in Lalique decanters showcases the strength of current demand for the very best in the world of whisky.”

Finest & Rarest Spirits features the highly sought after Karuizawa 52 Year Old Cask #5627 Zodiac Rat 1960, the most coveted bottle from this closed Japanese distillery that is fortuitously offered this year, the Year of the Rat. In 2018, a bottle of this Japanese single malt broke the record for the most expensive bottle of Japanese whisky ever sold at auction, superseded several months later by a rare bottle of Yamazaki 50 Year Old 1^st Edition.

Among the most notable bottlings in this auction is an impeccable array of old Gordon & MacPhail releases from previous decades with vintages stretching back to the 1930s, which culminate in a collection of four highly aged and very limited Crystal Decanters from the G&M Private Collection. These decanters have been consigned to Sotheby’s directly from the Urquhart family and each is number 1 out its respective outturn. This is the first time that any decanter numbered “#1” has been released for sale from Gordon & MacPhail rather than being kept in the Urquhart family’s own collection.

A truly impeccable lineup of aged Macallan Whiskies ranges from an independently bottled 48 Year Old through an unbroken vertical of The Macallan in Lalique Six Pillars Collection – six crystal decanters ranging from 50 to 65 years old, rarely seen in an unbroken vertical – to the inimitable 72 Year Old Genesis Decanter, the oldest whisky to be released from this exemplary distillery.