world's most valuable whisky collection

[Ken Gargett]

The world’s most valuable whisky collection revealed

25 November, 2019 by Andy Young

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The Guinness Book of World Records has confirmed a Vietnamese businessman is the owner of the most valuable whisky collection in the world.

Mr Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan’s collection of Ho Chi Minh City owns 535 bottles of old and rare Scotch and Japanese whisky, which valuation experts at Rare Whisky 101 estimate has an auction value of nearly $20.4m.

Included in Viet’s collection is the iconic 1926 ‘Fine and Rare’, which forms part of one of the world’s only complete collections of Macallan Fine and Rare. A bottle of The Macallan 1926 recently sold for $2.8m, including buyer’s premium; only 40 bottles of the whisky were ever released and Viet owns three.

Viet said: “For me, whisky collecting has been my life’s passion. Every spare I moment I get, I’m searching auction sites and trading websites to find famous and rare whiskies from around the world.

“As for my collection, I have no intention of selling any of it. Not one bottle. In fact, I’ll continue to hunt for more old and rare bottles and add to and enrich it.”

Other notable whiskies in the collection include one of only 12 bottles of the oldest Bowmore ever released as well as one of the 24 bottles of Springbank 1919.

It has taken Viet over 20 years to build the collection, which is secured in a bespoke whisky lounge at his home, and he said of record:  “I’m really happy and feel honoured to be recognised by Guinness World Records as the owner of the world’s most valuable whisky collection. It feels like an acknowledgement of all my hard work over the past 20 years.”

RW101 co-founder Andy Simpson said: “We were somewhat gobsmacked, not to mention a little envious, when we realised the breadth and depth of Mr Viet’s collection.

“It’s a truly stunning example of one person’s 20-year passion and desire to seek out the finest, rarest bottles of whisky in the world.”

[Meklown]

My friend sent me this and I replied: "Without personally having any evidence, I would go out on a limb and say this isn't the most valuable whisky collection in the world. I would wager that there are many more collectors who have been keeping their (bigger, more valuable) stash in private without allowing for an inspection/valuation."

And his reply: "Definitely. They would get smacked by Uncle Xi otherwise."

[Ken Gargett]

Just now, Meklown said:

My friend sent me this and I replied: "Without personally having any evidence, I would go out on a limb and say this isn't the most valuable whisky collection in the world. I would wager that there are many more collectors who have been keeping their (bigger, more valuable) stash in private without allowing for an inspection/valuation."

And his reply: "Definitely. They would get smacked by Uncle Xi otherwise."

i'm sure that is likely. surprised anyone makes public noises about these things. that said, he does have some extremely rare and valuable bottles which would elevate him into the elite. 

[Meklown]

34 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

some extremely rare and valuable bottles which would elevate him into the elite.

This is indisputable. However, as a drinker, I find it really really sad that these bottles will never be opened to be drunk. It's like rolling a perfect cigar and keeping it in display forever. What's a cigar for if not for smoking? What's a whisky for if not for drinking?

[Ken Gargett]

34 minutes ago, Meklown said:

This is indisputable. However, as a drinker, I find it really really sad that these bottles will never be opened to be drunk. It's like rolling a perfect cigar and keeping it in display forever. What's a cigar for if not for smoking? What's a whisky for if not for drinking?

no argument from me. i do understand that 'collecting' something, anything, can become an obsession but i nearly made the same comment as yourself. a shame indeed. 

[irratebass]

This was on television this past Sunday, kinda goes along with your post Ken 

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aging-well-the-allure-of-vintage-spirits/

[zappaFREAK]

Can you spell insanity! I agree completely with Meklown. It goes back to the saying smoke em if you got em!

[Ken Gargett]

9 hours ago, irratebass said:

This was on television this past Sunday, kinda goes along with your post Ken 

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aging-well-the-allure-of-vintage-spirits/

thanks for that. interesting stuff.

i come from a family which did not drink but the old man would get lots of bottles from clients as presents. including an annual bottle of inner circle rum. his mates used to all turn up around that time to see if they could jag it. mum used to put stuff in the christmas pudd every year. bottles of great cognac and who knows what else. drove me insane.

i did manage to save one bottle of the inner circle after he passed. 

 

as for the not drinking the collection, obviously i am on the side of drinking them but i do understand the collecting mentality. if these were stamps or garden dwarves or whatever, no one would care. if that is what the bloke wants to do and he has the money, a bit sad but up to him. 

[Lotusguy]

20 years and he only has 500ish bottles - that must be a joke.

[Ken Gargett]

9 minutes ago, Lotusguy said:

20 years and he only has 500ish bottles - that must be a joke.

i would assume that he has those bottles he drinks and those he collects - the latter are the extremely rare, special or expensive perhaps. that works out to two collectible bottles a month. i can follow that. for all we know, he has 10,000 for drinking. 

[Meklown]

2 hours ago, Lotusguy said:

20 years and he only has 500ish bottles - that must be a joke.

Actually I do follow some auctions as well, to find some cheap, under-the-radar deals (bottom feeding, as my father calls it).

Now I don't have a list of this guy's collection but those that were mentioned in the article are truly extremely rare - some (like the Macallans) don't surface for something close to a decade. For example, Bonhams are probably the biggest whisky auctioneers in Hong Kong and they hold an auction quarterly. Each auction there may be 1 or none of those bottles with that levels of rarity. 

I didn't check Ken's maths but collecting bottles with this level of rarity at a rate of 2 bottles / month is actually respectable.

[Lotusguy]

21 hours ago, Meklown said:

Actually I do follow some auctions as well, to find some cheap, under-the-radar deals (bottom feeding, as my father calls it).

Now I don't have a list of this guy's collection but those that were mentioned in the article are truly extremely rare - some (like the Macallans) don't surface for something close to a decade. For example, Bonhams are probably the biggest whisky auctioneers in Hong Kong and they hold an auction quarterly. Each auction there may be 1 or none of those bottles with that levels of rarity. 

I didn't check Ken's maths but collecting bottles with this level of rarity at a rate of 2 bottles / month is actually respectable.

Yeah, I suppose they only counted the ultra-rare bottles for the collection. $1k+ bottles can be found easily - $10k+, not so much.

I guess my most valuable bottle would be a 1971 Macallan that I was saving for my 50th, but at this point, I'll probably sell it. I just couldn't bring myself to open a $1k bottle.

[Meklown]

1 hour ago, Lotusguy said:

1971 Macallan that I was saving for my 50th

What a treat! If I were you I would totally open the bottle. I'm guessing that you bought it for less than the current prices, just think of it as opening a bottle of that value and you'll be fine!

[Lotusguy]

15 minutes ago, Meklown said:

What a treat! If I were you I would totally open the bottle. I'm guessing that you bought it for less than the current prices, just think of it as opening a bottle of that value and you'll be fine!

I just double-checked - I already opened it last year LOL - fair game now