Invitees watched on as The Intrepid is filled with 32-year-old The Macallan whisky in its unveiling event (Source: Fah Mai/Rosewin Holdings)

Picture this: A bottle of Scotch so tall that it stands taller than you. That's right. Named "The Intrepid," this colossal bottle stands at 180 cm (5 feet 11 inches), and carries a 32-years old The Macallan 1989. With a volume of 311 litres, it's equal to a whopping 444 standard whisky bottles. It is officially certified by the Guinness World Records as the largest bottle of Scotch in the world.

The mastermind behind The Intrepid is none other than David Monk, who's at the helm of Cask World and owner of Rosewin Holdings PLC, and had been bottled by the well-known independent bottler, Duncan Taylor, at 43% ABV.

Last year, The Intrepid was put up for auction and bidders from all over the globe chimed in. Eventually, it was sold for £1.1 million (US$1.4 million) to an anonymous collector.

One year on, this anonymous collector has just been identified as a Mr Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan, a businessman from Vietnam. It turns out that Mr Viet has already been in the collector’s game for quite sometime, with an impressive stash to show for it. His collection is currently valued at a whopping S$200 million.

Yet in a 2019 interview, it was revealed that he owned “just” about 500 bottles (there are collections that run into the thousands of bottles), many of which were exceedingly rare bottles. This includes the world largest bottle of cognac and the world’s only complete collection of The Macallan Fine & Rare Collection of vintage expressions – this includes the legendary 1926 vintage which fetched about £1.5 million in 2019.

His collection also features one of just 12 bottles of the oldest Bowmore whisky ever released, and one of the 24 bottles of a rare Springbank 1919.

When Mr Viet was asked about his bid on The Intrepid, he shared that he was drawn to the fact that it’s the world’s biggest bottle, it contains Macallan, and because that he was inspired by the record-breaking achievements of the 11 explorers commemorated by the bottling.

Indeed, the bottling was named The Intrepid as a tribute to 11 titans of exploration, including Sir Ranulph Fiennes – British explorer hailed as the world’s greatest living explorer who accomplished numerous polar expeditions.

Monk had the opportunity to visiting Mr Viet’s collection in Ho Chi Minh, and called the place “a whisky and cognac enthusiast’s paradise.” 

“It was a dream come true to see the Intrepid proudly displayed and added to the whisky war chest of such a knowledgeable and passionate collector,” Monk said. “He is preserving whisky history. We were honoured to be Mr. Viet's guests and to see his remarkable collection at first-hand.”

Mr Viet shared that he had spent over 20 years to put together his collection. While it appears that this collection has appreciated considerably within the past decade, it seems that he has no intentions of giving up any of his bottles. In a previous interview he shared “I have no intention of selling any of it. Not one bottle. In fact, I’ll continue to hunt for more old and rare bottles and add to and enrich it."

Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team