York man's extremely rare whisky collection expected to fetch £15k at auction after fan spends 10 years collecting every batch made from Scottish distillery

Jon O’Connell happened across the world of rare whiskies while fishing near Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands, when another fisherman introduced him to a local whisky called Aberlour A’bunadh.

After enjoying a dram together, Mr O’Connell began to wonder if it would be possible to collect a bottle from every batch ever made of A’bunadh.

The biologist from York has since spent over a decade attending rare whisky auctions and scouring shops across Europe in the hopes of finding all the bottles.

He collected his last bottle earlier this year completing the full set of 66, and it is now to be auctioned by whisky brokers Mark Littler Ltd, with Mr O’Connell hoping to fetch around £15,000.

He said: “It took 10 years to track all the bottles down, with batch 15 being undoubtedly the most difficult. But 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.”

When the collection sells, Mr O’Connell plans to use the money to buy a small fishing boat.

Mark Littler, founder of the brokers, said of the collection: “We’re seeing more people like Jon build amazing rare whisky collections like this as whisky has become ever more collectable and investable.

"It’s an honour to be able to sell this stunning and vast whisky series on our online marketplace. The A’bunadh series is the largest whisky collection that we have ever sold and to have a bottle from every batch ever produced is what makes this so unique.”

“At Mark Littler Ltd, we help collectors looking to sell their unique whisky collection get a fair price. Too often is whisky sold for far less than it is actually worth at auctions, so we work closely with individuals to value their whisky and then sell it via our online marketplace to ensure sellers get the price they deserve.”