World’s Largest Private Collection of Whisky Sells for £3.3 Million

A private collector, known only as Pat, sold his private whisky collection at auction for £3.36 million. His collection – comprised of 9,070 bottles – is from all around the world and took him over 15 years to amass.

This personal collection was sold in 23 auctions over the course of more than a year, and, by doing so, Pat made history. Namely, it is the largest private collection of whisky that has ever come to auction. The final sale, following a series of monthly spotlight auctions and dedicated sales curated by Perth-based Whisky Auctioneer, took place in November last year.  

Pat’s story began in 2005 when he bought his first two bottles of whisky: the Douglas Laing Old and Rare Platinum Selection. His passion slowly grew to the point where he began collecting whisky from all around the globe.

The Whisky Collection

Of course, we are not going to list the entirety of Pat’s whisky collection, but here are some of the highlights and the price that they sold for:

• Brora 1972 Rare Malts 22-Year-Old: £20,500.
• Glenfarclas 1952 Family Cask #1712: £18,000.
• Highland Park 50 Year Old 2018: £15,000.
• Japanese Karuizawa 35 Year Old Bourbon Cask #8518 / Emerald Geisha: £9200.

The collection featured over 5,000 Scotch single malts, 1000 blended whiskies, 600 American whiskeys, as well as hundreds of grain whiskies and independent bottlings.

Comments on the Historic Auction

Iain McClune, Founder of Whisky Auctioneer, stated: “Pat’s Whisk(e)y Collection was historic, a once in a lifetime chance for whisky lovers old and new to bid on some of the most diverse bottles on the secondary market.”

“The variety of whiskies on offer was unique, with whiskies accessible at every price point, hopefully inspiring the next generation of collectors. It’s highly unlikely we’ll ever see a collection as large and diverse as this one, meaning this auction will go down in whisky history, setting a precedent for future collectors.”

Meanwhile, Pat, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Building a whisky collection was never actually my original goal – I simply wanted to try everything and there were so many releases, distilleries and countries to explore. When I reached over 2000 bottles, I decided to create a collection that represented the full picture of whisky.

He continued “And for me, that meant everything from non-age statements, blends and world whiskies to the rarest examples – a true showcase of all sides of such a varied spirit. Selling the collection was a deeply emotional process for me since it has been such a huge part of my life.”

“I feel this incredible journey has culminated in a fitting finale with these bottles entered back into the market so other people can enjoy them, perhaps with some added knowledge gained alongside. My journey with whisky is not over.”

In addition to padding out his own pockets enormously through the sale of his private collection, Pat also selected a number of bottles for donation to charity. Those bottles ended up raising over £25,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Whiskey Auctioneer also donated over £2,000 to the charity.

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