Bonhams lines up rare lots for Hong Kong

Auction house Bonhams is to offer an array of fine wines and rare spirits at its next sale in Hong Kong this May.

Taking place on 19 May, the sale will feature collectible lots including a bottle of 1961 Lafite Rothschild (HK$70,000-90,000) and a bottle of The Macallan 1950, 52-year-old (HK$160,000-200,000).

Other top wine lots span six magnums of 2000 Château Pavie, an imperial of 1982 Château Pichon-Lalande, cases of 2010 Château Margaux and Latour and a case of 2011 Chambertin Clos de Bèze from Domaine Rousseau.

Rare spirits on offer include further bottles of The Macallan from its Fine & Rare range, including a 35-year-old 1940 and 37-year-old 1937 and an exceptionally rare single bottle 1972 Brora from an ex-Sherry butt.

There are two other spirit rarities in the sale: an early bottling of Japanese whisky Hanyu, ‘Pine with Crane 2000’ – one of just 10 bottles produced – and a bottle of Schenley’s Aged Medicinal Whiskey from the 1920s, the first time a Bourbon of its type has been offered for sale at auction.

Although made during Prohibition in the US, six whiskey producers were licensed by the government to produce ‘medicinal liquor’.

Bonhams head of Fine Wine and Whisky in Hong Kong, Daniel Lam, said: “There is an abundance of choice in our May sale with top vintages from the major French vineyards and many rare bottles of whisky.  I’m particularly excited by the bottle of Hanyu – Pine with Crane which I m confident will create a lot of interest among collectors of Japanese whisky.”