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‘Largest’ private whisky collection could fetch £8m

The “world’s largest” private collection of whisky to be offered at auction is expected to fetch up to £8 million (US$10.5m) when it goes on sale next year.

Two record-breaking Macallan bottlings are part of ‘The Perfect Collection’ by Richard Gooding

Perth-based Whisky Auctioneer will sell the collection, which has an estimated hammer price of between £7m and £8m (US$9.2m and US$10.5m).

‘The Perfect Collection’, which contains more than 3,900 bottles of mostly single malt Scotch, has been built up by the late American private collector Richard Gooding.

The collection features bottlings from some of Scotland’s ‘lost’ distilleries, including Old Orkney from Stromness Distillery and Dallas Dhu.

It also features coveted bottles from The Macallan, Bowmore and Springbank, including The Macallan 1926 Fine and Rare 60 Year Old and The Macallan 1926 Valerio Adami 60 Year Old. The bottles have an estimated hammer price of between £1m and £1.2m (US$1.3m and US$1.6m), and £700,000 and £800,000 (US$921,000 and US$1m), respectively.

In October 2019, a bottle of the 1926 Macallan Fine and Rare whisky broke the world record for most expensive whisky sold at auction. The bottle sold for £1.5m (US$1.9m) at a Sotheby’s sale in London.

A bottle of The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60-year-old Scotch whisky also once held the world record for most expensive whisky sold at auction after fetching £848,750 (US$1.1m) at a Bonhams sale in Edinburgh last year.

‘The Perfect Collection’ also features bottles of the Bowmore 1964, Black Bowmore 29 Year Old 1st Edition, Glenfiddich 1937 Rare Collection 64 Year Old, Springbank 1919 50 Year Old and The Macallan 50 Year Old Lalique Six Pillars Collection.

Until now, the range has been housed in Gooding’s ‘pub’ – a dedicated room in his Colorado family home.

‘Sheer scale’ 

“It was clear to us as a family that collecting Scotch was one of Richard’s greatest passions – an endeavour that spanned over two decades,” said Nancy Gooding, wife of Richard Gooding.

“He loved every aspect of it; from researching the many single malt distilleries to visiting them and tasting their whiskies.

“He was always so pleased to acquire the bottles that he was searching for over the years – his mission was to collect a bottle that represented every single distillery, but his favourite was always Bowmore with his preferred whisky being Black Bowmore.

“Richard truly loved and was proud of his collection and enjoyed sharing it with friends and fellow Scotch lovers in his ‘pub’ at home.”

Iain McClune, founder of Whisky Auctioneer, said: “The Perfect Collection by Mr Gooding is truly one of a kind and a testament to his dedication to collecting Scotch whisky.

“Its sheer scale and rarity makes it one of the most exciting discoveries in the whisky world, and we’re thrilled to unveil it to the public ahead of it going live on our online auction site next year.

“This library of whiskies is filled with very special bottles, each of which has been researched and meticulously examined for condition and authenticity.

“Amongst the over 3,900 bottles is the largest collection of The Macallan ever to go to auction, including the limited opportunity to acquire the 1926 Valerio Adami and 1926 Fine and Rare 60 Year Old bottlings.”

Whisky Auctioneer will sell each bottle in the collection over two separate auctions, on 7-17 February and 10-20 April.

Last month, a Vietnamese collector was officially recognised by the Guinness World Records as the owner of the most valuable whisky collection, which includes three bottles of the coveted 1926 Macallan Fine and Rare.

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