Whisky Collection Of Over 3,000 Bottles To Go Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Aug 26th 2009 at 4:02PM

I love the stories of methodical, obsessed collectors, it's always worth checking out their collections when they come up for auction. When it comes to whisky, Willard S Folsom was a man consumed. According to Bonhams, which will auction off his collection, a USA Today article of all things started Folsom's interest in single malts. This led to an 18-year love affair that took Folsom to Scotland and England, taking his wife and son along with him, not just to show them the world but to have them carry suitcases full of whisky.

The resulting collection spans over 3,000 bottles and includes some of the great names in the whisky world such as Ardbeg, Bowmore, Dalmore, Glenfiddich, Laphroaig, Springbank, Kinclaith, Killyloch, Ben Wyvis, Glen Grant, Glenmorangie, The Glenlivet, Strathmill, Mortlach and The Macallan. Martin Green, Bonhams Whisky Specialist says that in his over 20 years of conducting whisky auctions this is "the most exciting collection I have ever handled. Many of the bottles included in the collection will never be released again or repeated by the whisky industry and so the sale of the collection provides the opportunity to buy many collectables of the future."

The first section of the collection of the Late Willard Folsom will be offered for sale on November 18 at Bonhams Edinburgh, with the remaining stock sold in New York and Hong Kong in early 2010. Folsom's philosophy was "Some say the glass is half empty, others say it's half full. I say, pour the water out and put some Scotch in that glass." His collection offers many opportunities to do that.

[via BBC News]

Tags: bonhams, collection, scotch, whisky