Man sells astonishingly rare vertical whisky haul of 66 bottles

An avid Scotch fan has decided to part with his staggering 66-bottle collection of Aberlour A’bunadh, one from every year the single malt has been made, listing the stash online for £15,884.

You’ve heard the one about 99 bottles of beer on the wall. Now, one lucky buyer has the chance to snap up 66 bottles of Scotch made by one of Speyside’s leading distilleries.

The impressive collection, on sale now for £15,884 through the online marketplace of rare whisky broker Mark Littler Ltd, was built up over 10 years by Jon O’Connell from York who first discovered the single malt during a fishing trip when he shared a dram with a fellow fisherman.

The 66-bottle haul is the result of a decade’s worth of careful hunting by O’Connell, who was determined to collect a bottle from every batch of Aberlour A’bunadh ever made, beginning with its launch year, 2000. He scoured auction houses and whisky shops all over Europe to complete the line-up.

The unique stash contains two extremely rare special editions; a Silver Label Millennium Edition, bottled in 1999 in preparation for the millennium celebrations, and Silver A’bunadh, an extremely limited collection of only 37 bottles.

“Having a bottle from every batch ever produced makes this collection truly unique. If you can amass a collection like his then it can be extremely rewarding indeed,” said Mark Littler, who last year facilitated the sale of a 28-bottle private collection of Macallan single malt for more than £40,000.

O’Connell said: “It took 10 years to track all the bottles down, with batch 15 being undoubtedly the most difficult. When I finally got my hands on the last bottle to complete my collection, I felt a real sense of achievement. I’ve decided to put them up for sale because I think they would make for a wonderful present for someone – certainly for that fisherman that inspired me all those years ago!”