A BOTTLE of 153-year-old cognac was auctioned for 1 million yuan (US$156,000) in Shanghai on Saturday, believed to be a record price for the French spirit in an unadorned bottle, South China Morning Post reported.

    Winning bidder Maggie Vong, from Hong Kong, said she was delighted to have won the bidding, which started at 388,000 yuan. Vintage cognac has brought a higher price — but only when sold in an elaborate jeweled bottle.

    Croizet Cognac’s Cuvee Leonie was one of 16 items auctioned at an invitation-only event at Shook! restaurant, on the top floor of the Swatch Art Peace Hotel on the Bund.

    “I was very keen to get hold of this exclusive bottle,” Vong said. “But setting a precedent also pushed me on. I am very happy to have broken a world record.”

    Jason Gillott, Croizet’s head of international marketing, said: “There has been intense interest in this sale. People have been flying in from all over the world.”

    The headline cognac was produced from the grape harvest of 1858 — before a blight of phyloxera wiped out most French vines in 1875, devastating the European wine industry.

    (SD-Agencies)