Two entire casks from the original Karuizawa distillery have sold at Christie’s London for a combined £4,250,000 ($5,650,000). The casks of Japanese whisky have set a new record for the highest value lots sold at auction for Christie’s Wine & Spirits. The casks were distilled in 1999 —the final year before the original Karuizawa distillery ceased production— were offered from the private collection of renowned whisky expert and collector Sukhinder Singh.
Casks #6195 and #888 were sold in a live auction, representing an exceptionally rare opportunity for collectors to acquire Karuizawa whisky in its purest, unbroken form.
Each cask is expected to yield approximately 420 bottles. The successful bidders will also have the chance to shape the future maturation, bottling, and release of the liquid.
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READ THE STORYIndividual bottles from the closed distillery regularly set record prices, driven by the whisky’s remarkable depth and distinctive sherry influence.
Karuizawa whisky is increasingly rare, so the chance to obtain an entire cask of Karuizawa is an incredible opportunity for any fan of the distillery. Karuizawa originally closed in 2000 but went on to achieve cult status among collectors worldwide. The new Karuizawa distillery reopened in 2024.
Adam Bilbey, global head of wine and spirits at Christie’s, said: “We are incredibly proud that these two extraordinary Karuizawa casks, that have been so carefully nurtured, have found new custodians.”
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“Full casks of Karuizawa are rarely seen, and their provenance from the private collection of Sukhinder Singh – one of the most respected figures in the world of rare whisky – made these even more special,” Bilbey added.
He continued: “This is a project that Christie’s has been honoured to be involved with, and it is particularly thrilling to see the hammer come down on these record-breaking lots, a record number in our 60th year as a department and in our brand-new rostrum designed by Sir Jonny Ive for our 260th anniversary.”
Singh, founder of The Whisky Exchange, is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in rare whisky collecting. His private holdings of Karuizawa are considered among the most significant in the world.
The result underscores the continued strength of the rare Japanese whisky market, where closed-distillery bottlings and cask offerings command escalating premiums from international collectors in search of truly unique propositions.
