History

Years back, pretty much the only whiskies I knew were some of the blends that were popular in my parent's house, J&B, William Lawsons and Old Smuggler. I also knew Glenfiddich, but it was not often that my parents got a bottle. Whisky was really of no interest to me. But something about that Glenfiddich being of higher quality for some reason had stuck in my mind, although I didn't really realize or care why.
Much later around my 18th year in life I and some friends pooled some money together to buy and enjoy a bottle of Glenfiddich. A night to remember. Although it was more the company than the whisky. A few years later still I had purchased a bottle of my own. I wasn't into whisky still, it was just something I liked drinking on occasion.
Fast forward again a few years, my girlfriend and me went to Ireland on a holiday, in the good company of a friend. We'd been visiting Irish pubs in Belgium and had discovered that those Irish made some good whiskey too. Our special attention went to Midleton Very Rare, it was really expensive in the pubs, my friend and I had both set our minds to buying a bottle in Ireland so we could enjoy it back home at a relatively cheaper price.
Ireland was a hit, and next year we went back. We carefully planned our route to pass Midleton distillery, which we intended to visit. I must admit that I went a little crazy in the distillery shop and bought no less than three bottles. A Jameson 15 year old, a Jameson 12 year old of the distillery reserve, and a Midleton Very Rare. Truly the whisky virus must have gotten me there and then, because I had just bought what would become the start of my collection. Back home I started to look out for whisky tastings. That was quite difficult back then, as there weren't that many as nowadays. But I managed to score one or two anyway. I had caught on to the blend/malt difference, and regularly bought malts in the supermarket.
In the mean time whisky popularity was rising and tastings became easier to find. My collection had already considerably grown, and I was now buying from specialized stores. I had already developed a fairly good idea of the taste range of whiskies in general. I loved them all. In the last few years a nearby drinks store has started organizing regular whisky tastings, and I try to attend all of them. As a result I have now tasted literally hundreds of different whiskies and own about a hundred myself.
I have now come to the point where I think of myself as a whisky connoisseur, one step beyond whisky enthusiast, but not a true whisky buff either.
Irish whisky will always have a place in my bar, and it pains me to see many people dismiss them so easily. I really love the true Lowland style whiskies, in fact one of the most amazing whiskies I've ever drunk was a 1981 St.Magdalene bottling by Gordon & MacPhail's. Islay also has a few of my favourites, but for me, nominating a favourite whisky is sheer impossible, because any choice I make, would only do injustice to all the others I really like.

So that's more or less how I became a whisky aficionado, what's your excuse ;)

Collecting bottles

Every now and then people who come and visit me, take a bit of a closer look at my whisky collection. Mind you, there is an important difference between my collection, and my bar. The bar contains six to ten whiskies, bottles that are open and from which I pour myself, and even my guests a dram. The collection consists of about a hundred bottles, which remain closed, for me, as well as for guests. Such a collection evokes several different reactions, ranging from admiration to appal.
So why do I, or any other collector, collect whiskies? There are quite a few possible motivations. First of all, what motivation do all collectors share, what motivates one to collect crystal statues, or pictures of owls, or anything else for that matter. I think that motivation is the hobby, it is fun to work on a collection, to see it grow, to find the perfect next piece to make it just a bit more complete. A good collection is never complete, because it would stop inspiring the collector.
Another motivation is being able to show it off. One of the great joys of a collection is being able to show it off. It is a great way to bring the conversation to your favourite subject. Through collecting something you also learn more of it : to collect it, is to know it.
For a collection of unopened whisky bottles there are even a few extra motivations, one of them could be to collect tham as an investment. Certain bottles become rarer and therefore sometimes more valuable. Although this is tricky, since any possible buyer is most likely also a collector. I'm afraid the market of rare bottles of whisky just doesn't fluctuate enough for bottles of whisky to be a real good investment. Nevertheless, it is nice to know that some bottles grow more valuable over time.
But this brings me to a much more valid motivation; buy cheap today, and be able to drink something unaffordable tomorrow. You see, if a particular bottle becomes more valuable over time, it also means it becomes more expensive to buy. So, if you know a bottle will rise in value, and it happens to be one of our favourites, it makes sense to buy a few now, before it becomes too dear. And then you can still enjoy a dram of that malt, when otherwise it would have become financially unwise.

Then besides envy, why would anyone be appalled by a whisky collection? What many people don't seem to understand is that you would spend so much money on a drink, and then not drink it. The purpose of whisky is to be drunk, or ideally savoured, not to be collected, to be put on some shelf and collecting dust.
Some whisky connoisseurs abhor the mere thought of collecting, because obviously a collector is a competitor. Collectors, in the minds of the non-collector connoisseurs, boast the prizes in their collection, without truly knowing them, because they've never tasted them. Perhaps such collectors do indeed exist, but it is certainly not true for all collectors. In fact I think there are many connoisseurs who have become collectors and vice versa. Personally, I became a collector the day I became a whisky enthusiast, and it cannot be said that I don't know the whiskies in my collection, because I've tasted them all, all but a very few exceptions.
Why is a collector a competitor for a connoisseur? Well they both want the same 'resource' : bottles of whisky. They both add to the demand, and therefore they both push the price of a bottle upward. You see, this obviously works both ways, indeed a connoisseur is a collector's competitor, yet collectors don't seem to mind connoisseurs.
Obviously a collector doesn't mind the prices going up too much, this makes the bottles in his collection, well at least some of them, more valuable. It are indeed the investment minded collectors who are scorned the most. A connoisseur on the other hand wants his favourite bottles, or any bottle for that matter, to remain affordable.

Collecting bottles of whisky will probably keep provoking mixed feelings. It cannot be denied that it raises the prices of certain bottles even faster, and in some extreme cases only a few bottles of a certain expression remain for too many enthusiasts, making for an unaffordable whisky, that may not even be too fantastic. On the other hand, the greater demand for malt whisky has made it possible for distilleries to bottle more of their product for the malt market, rather than selling all, or most of their produce to blenders. The malt market has now become interesting enough for distillers to actually target that market more. Already a lot of distilleries have diversified their official distillery bottling greatly.
Yes, collecting whisky bottles is rather selfish, but its not all bad for the connoisseur, because it helps making malt whisky as a product more viable, distillers can become less dependant on blenders and the varieties become richer. Lastly, not all collectors are just owners, many, like me, are lovers before that.