Christie’s June 2026 Fine and Rare Spirits auction in New York City comprises 100 remarkable lots spanning the most sought-after categories of the contemporary spirits market.
The auction's unequivocal centerpiece is an extraordinary bottle of The Yamazaki 55 Year Old ($240,000 – $350,000). It is the oldest expression ever released by Japan's first commercial malt whisky distillery, blended from two extraordinary components: a 1960 distillate matured in Japanese Mizunara oak under the direction of Suntory's founder, Shinjiro Torii, and a 1964 distillate aged in American white oak under the second-generation master blender, Keizo Saji. Bottled at 46% ABV and released in 2020 in a worldwide edition of a mere 200 bottles, the Yamazaki 55 was made available in Japan exclusively by lottery, and globally through a handful of selected buyers. The presentation is itself a disquisition in Japanese craft, history, and tradition — a crystal decanter engraved with the Yamazaki name in calligraphy, Echizen washi paper enveloping the bottle's neck, a hand-tied Kyoto kumihimo cord, and a Mizunara oak case finished in Suruga lacquer. Complete examples have only very rarely appeared, particularly in the United States. For Christie's Summer 2026 Luxury Week, however, the great Yamazaki 55 comes home to Rockefeller Center.
The strength in Japanese whisky extends well beyond the headline lot. The sale features a substantial collection of Hibiki — including three bottles of the 30 Year Old, three of the 17 Year Old, and a 21 Year Old — alongside five lots of Nikka's Taketsuru Pure Malt across the 21 and 25 Year Old expressions, Karuizawa vintages, and a flight of Yamazaki Limited Editions and 18 Year Olds.
The Scotch offering is equally important, anchored by depth across closed and silent distilleries — sixteen lots of Port Ellen spanning the 6th through 12th Annual Releases, three of Brora including the 35 Year Old Special Releases, and two of Karuizawa, among them a Noh series 13 Year Old single cask Sherry Butt. From distilleries still in operation, The Macallan is represented in depth, including a run of the Edition series led by Edition No. 1 ($11,000 – $16,000), alongside the Fine Oak series, the 2015 release of the M, and additional mature releases. Three Glenfarclas Family Casks bottlings feature herein, and further highlights include a brace of Laphroaig 30 Year Old, a Glendronach Grandeur 31 Year Old, and a Talisker 35 Year Old from the 2012 Diageo Special Releases.
Beyond whisky, Rémy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl ($15,000 – $20,000) figures prominently, alongside an extremely rare Buffalo Trace offering from The Last Drop ($14,000 – $19,000, only 44 bottled) that was distilled in 1982 at the George T. Stagg Distillery and bottled in 2018. The sale also includes a Kweichow Moutai and a selection of vintage Cognac and Armagnac.