London: This is indeed a strange story. It has been noticed that there have been occasions when the urge to drink have adversely affected a person’s property. Alcoholism has also destroyed many lives. But this is a story with a difference. In this case alcohol is helping a man to buy a house. A man’s father gifted him 18-year-old whisky for his birthday every year. The man is using the vintage liquor collection to buy a home in the United Kingdom (UK), according to a media report.
Matthew Robson from Taunton was born in 1992. Every year his father Pete bought him a ‘Macallan Single Malt’, spending 5,000 pounds on 28 bottles, the ‘BBC News’ reported.
Today, whisky connoisseurs value the collection at 40,000 pounds (Rs 39 lakh). A year-wise continuous chain of rare whisky is called a vertical. They are very rare to find, especially a set that spans across such a long period.
Matthew has said at first he viewed the gift as ‘quirky’ and they came with the express order ‘never open them’. “It probably wasn’t the best gift for a young boy but now it has become quite the nest egg,” BBC quoted the 28-year-old as saying.
Matthew’s father Pete, 64 is from Milnathort in Scotland. He said the first bottle – a 1974 vintage – was bought to ‘wet the baby’s head’. It generally means the drinks consumed with family and friends after the birth of a child.
“I thought it would be interesting if I bought one every year. Then he’d end up with 18 bottles of 18-year-old whisky for his 18th birthday,” Pete was quoted.
“It wasn’t the only present he got from us. It was just meant to be a unique present but it was a little bit of luck that we kept it going,” Pete added.
The collection is being sold by whisky broker Mark Littler. “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 added that offers were pouring in from the US and Asia.
