A private whiskey collector known only as Pat is selling his estimated $5 million 9000-bottle collection over 8 months through the Whiskey Auctioneer website. 

Editorial credit: ZRyzner / Shutterstock.com

Pat, described as a “private man,” was a whiskey novice when he bought his first bottle more than 15 years ago. Since then his collection has grown to include some of the world’s most hard to get bottles of liquor. However, the whiskey’s scarcity has never been a major emphasis of his collection. 

“I have always fought against whisky snobbery and wanted to create a collection for drinking and enjoying responsibly,” Pat told Whiskey Auctioneer. “Good whisky can be discovered literally anywhere and come at any price, wherein lies its beauty.” 

Pat started buying bottles to open and enjoy, but it wasn’t long before his collecting outpaced his ability to knock off good bottles of Scotch with friends, and his masterpiece was born. 

“The significance of this wide range of whisky styles, from single 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,” said Pat. 

Pat’s collection is considered the world’s largest private collection of whiskey to ever go under the hammer and must be sold off at regular intervals until July 2021 due to the size and diversity of the collection. 

Pat’s bounty covers more than 9000 bottles across: 

• 150+ Scottish distilleries 
• American Bourbon whisky 
• Independent European labels 
• Japanese whiskeys 
• Worldwide producers 
• A range of single malts and blended whiskeys