INDIA. Delhi Duty Free made its highest ever spirits sale by value on 7 November, when a customer bought a bottle of the recently released The Yamazaki 55 Year Old for Rs4,569,000 (US$61,000).
As reported, only 100 bottles are being released this year from Japan’s first and oldest malt whisky distillery, with a limited allocation provided by Beam Suntory to travel retail stores in Delhi, London, Paris, Hainan, Hong Kong, Taipei, Amsterdam, Seoul, Istanbul, Dubai and Singapore.
Delhi Duty Free was allocated one bottle, which was sold less than one month after listing.
After collecting the product in departures on his way back to Singapore, the owner (a Singaporean citizen of Indian origin) said: “It is incredibly rare for The Yamazaki of such vintage nature to be made available for purchase. I am a whisky connoisseur and an avid collector and have many prominent bottles in my growing collection. I am delighted with this new addition to my collection and I cannot thank Delhi Duty Free enough for securing this historic bottle and providing me with a world-class duty free experience.”
A Delhi Duty Free spokesperson said: “We are delighted that this record-breaking sale has taken place at our store. This success is a testament to Delhi Duty Free and our brand partners, who have continuously worked with us over the years to make DDFS one of the world’s best duty free retailers. Our endeavour going forward will be to continue to focus on premium and luxury brands across all categories for HNI (high net worth individual) travellers.”
Yamazaki 55 – the oldest release in the House of Suntory’s history – was bottled last year. According to Beam Suntory the product pays tribute to the legacy of the founding family of Japanese whisky and celebrates the Japanese Showa era of the 1960s, a major period of change for the House of Suntory.
