- Mr. Bay van der Brunt and his collection
A story that was out at a bunch of sites (Reuters, Born Rich, etc.) concerns Bay van der Brunt, an avid bottle collector and infrequent imbiber. It seems that his great grandfather began amassing bottles in the 1880′s, and then the collection and interest in collecting was passed from father to son until Mr. van der Brunt found himself with 5,000 bottles and no heirs.
Sadly, at age 63, he finds himself fulfilling the promise that he made to his wife that he would sell the collection prior to her retirement. The world can now bid on his collection. However, before you begin to prepare a bid, he is inclined to keep the collection intact and is looking for a well-heeled bidder to cough up a mere $8 million.
His collection contains Cognac, Whisky, Armagnac, Port, Madeira and other rare liquors and liqueurs. The highlight of his collection is a bottle that Mr. van der Brunt obtained at a 1990 auction in Chicago. The 1795 Brugerolle Cognac is in a bottle that is between 5 and 6 liters. This Cognac was a favorite of French revolutionary officers, and may have been a part of Napoleon Bonaparte’s collection. This bottle alone is valued at $180,000.
As far as the whisky in his collection, he has a Bladnoch from 1842 ($7,000), a Linkwood-Glenlivet from 1898 ($8,000) and a 1949 Macallan ($4,800).
You can view Mr. van der Brunt’s whole collection at his website.
