Man sells collection of 28 years' worth of birthday whisky bottles for £40,000

A man is selling the birthday whisky stash he has collected over the years to buy himself a house. Matthew Robson from Taunton, had received 18-year-old bottles of Macallan whisky each year from his father over the course of his life, bringing in a total of 28 bottles in his collection.

The story from BBC reports that his father spent about £5,000 in total for the 28 bottles of Macallan single malt which are now collectively worth more than £40,000. The whisky collection is now up for sale, with the 28-year-old Robson saying he was given the strictest instructions by his father as a young boy to never open the bottles.

Although he said it "probably wasn't the best gift for a young boy growing up, the collection had turned into a valuable nest egg for him. For each year since he was born, it was his special birthday present from his father.

"I thought it was quite a quirky little present as I was slightly too young to start drinking. But I was under strict instructions, never, never to open them and I tried my hardest and succeeded and they're all intact.", Robson recalled.

Hailing from Milnathort, Scotland, Robson's father said the first bottle of the 1974 whisky he bought was meant to "wet the baby's head."

In the 16th century, the word "wet" is always referred to as a celebration that involved an alcoholic drink. In traditional Christian baptism, wetting the baby's head would mean to bless the child with holy water. However, it is now commonly a term used to mean celebrating a baby's arrival with one or two bottles of alcoholic drinks exchanged with fathers.

Robson's father says, "I thought it would be interesting if I bought one every year and he'd end up with 18 bottles of 18-year-old whisky for his 18th birthday."

Although it was not the only present he received from his parents, they wanted to make it a unique token each year and managed to continue the gesture.

Experts have since considered Macallan as a collectible and Robson hopes he can sell his collection for the price of £40,000 so he can use the money to put down as a deposit for a new house.

The collection is being sold by whisky broker Mark Littler who believes this to be a "perfect set" to acquire for any whisky enthusiast.

"The value of Macallan has risen massively over the last five to 10 years. To have such a vast collection of bottles is the real selling point of these", Littler said

He said the collection has already gotten a lot of offers from interested parties mostly from New York and Asia.