One man’s impressive twenty-year booze-filled scavenger hunt has landed him in the Guinness World Records as the owner of the world’s most valuable whisky collection.
Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan, a resident of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, owns a collection of 535 old and rare Scotch whiskies valued to be worth £10,770,635 (approximately $13.9 million), the Drinks Business reports.
With the 21-percent buyer’s premium that would be added if the collection were sold through an auctioneer like Sotheby’s or Bonhams, Guinness World Records officially valued the collection at £13,032,468 (approximately $16.7 million) on Nov. 1, 2019.
Among the Vietnamese businessman’s treasures are three bottles of the 1926 Macallan Fine and Rare whisky (considered to be the “Holy Grail” of whiskies) and a bottle of the oldest Bowmore ever released.
The quest to own such rare gems has been a lifelong passion for Viet. “Every spare moment I get, I’m searching auction sites and trading websites to find famous and rare whiskies from around the world,” he says. “Clearly this requires a lot of patience and no shortage of tenacity, but I’m proud of my efforts.”
He added: “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.”
Here’s wondering what Viet’s glassware collection looks like.