‘World’s most diverse whisky collection’ is up for auction
● ‘Pat’ collected 9,000 bottles over 15 years, including rare selections
The world’s largest and most d ive r s e p r iva t e whi s k y c o llection ever to go to auction is expected to fetch a total of more than £4 million.
M o r e t h a n 9,0 0 0 b o t t l e s amassed by a man described by the auctioneers as “a novice collector” over 15 years will go under the hammer at Perthbased Whisky Auctioneer over several online auctions starting from today.
They include b ottles from more than 150 S cottish distille ries, rare relea ses from sought-after independent bottlers in Europe, together with “world whiskies” and b ourb ons from other distilleries across the globe.
Whisky Auctioneer revealed the seller, known only as “Pat”, d i d n o t e ve n e n j o y wh i s k y when he started his collection around 2005.
The collector bought his first b ottles – the Douglas Laing Old and Rare Platinum Selection – on the recommendation of a colleague, then just kept collecting.
Having originally gathered bottles to open and share with others, his determination to explore ever y area of whisky quickly outstripped his ability to open the bottles he was acquiring.
Instead, he began a quest to create one of the most complete libraries of whisky ever by a single collector.
Whisky Auctioneer, which describes itself as “the world’s leading online platform for b u y i n g a n d s e l l i n g wh i s k y
and spirits at auction”, said Pat’s effor ts had resulted in “the largest private collection ever to go to auction”.
Hi g h l i g h t s i n c l u d e “h i g h - l y s o u g h t ” r a n g e s o f a g e d expressions from Bowmore, Port Ellen, Caperdonich, and examples from Highland Park from the Duncan Taylor Tantalus series, some of which have never been seen at auction before.
The collection also includes
sought-after Japanese distilleries Karuizawa and Hanyu, and bottles from “cult favourite farm distillery” Daftmill in the Howe of Fife.
Pat, who wishes to remain a n o n y m o u s , s a i d : “I h a v e always fought against whisky snobber y and wanted to create a collection for drinking and enjoying responsibly.
“Go o d wh i s k y c a n b e d i sc ove r e d l i t e r a l l y a ny wh e r e and come at any price, where
in lies its beauty. The significance of this wid e range of wh i s k y s t y l e s , f r o m s i n g l e malts to grain and blends, is that it’s unlikely anybody will ever be able to replicate such a collection on the open market without directly acquiring large private collections.
“Many bottles included will simply never or at least rarely be available again. I was fortunate to start my collection at the time I did.”