A year ago this very month, an extremely rare first-edition Yamazaki 50-year-old sold at auction for nearly HK$2.7 million, making it the most expensive single bottle of Japanese whisky ever sold. Now that record has been broken. In some consolation to the original record holder, though, it has merely been taken over by another bottle from the same batch of 2005 Yamazaki 50-year-olds, with the winning bid this time fetching some HK$3.4 million.

As you might inevitably assume, there is something truly special about this particular edition of the renowned Japanese spirit, with a number of factors accounting for its unprecedented valuation. For one thing, as it was placed in mizunara (Japanese oak) casks to mature way back in 1955, it is the oldest extant Yamazaki vintage. For another, Suntory, the distiller behind this much-sought-after spirit, produced only 50 bottles of this whisky when it was released 14 years ago.

Adding to its quality and rarity, it has been made wholly from Japanese barley and fermented using voltaic water sourced from below the bamboo forest neighbouring the Yamazaki distillery. As to this latest record, is it set to endure? Well, with 48 bottles still lurking out there, it would be rash to assume we’ve seen the last of this particular whisky…