A little over a year ago it was announced that the world famous whisky collection of Italian collector Valentino Zagatti had been sold to Dutch investor Michel Kappen. Yesterday the collection arrived in the town of Sassenheim, where Kappen’s Scotch Whisky International is located.
The sizable collection of Zagatti totals 3.103 bottles of whisky, most of them very rare. “It’s almost impossible to describe this collection”, Kappen reacts. “You can compare it to a series of paintings by Rembrandt, all from a certain time period, and you have to opportunity to buy them all together. One bottle is even more rare than the other. In buying the Zagatti-collection we managed to beat countries like China, where people were also very interested in getting their hands on it.”
Zagatti’s collection is estimated to be worth around 4,5 million euros
The collection is Zagatti’s life’s work, even though he was never able to see it himself. During the Second World War he lost his eyesight after a landmine detonation. He was only eleven at the time. It never caused him to give up on his passion of collecting single malt whisky. Kappen: “It was an emotional ordeal for Zagatti to hand over his collection. We ensured him that it will stay together for at least ten years and will be on display in a whisky museum that we’ll open in Sassenheim next year.”
Kappen didn’t buy the complete collection by himself. He was backed by a group of twelve investors. According to Dutch financial newspaper Financieel Dagblad the collection is estimated to be worth around 4,5 million euros, but Kappen won’t commit to a figure. “This collection is so unique and literally priceless. All parties are in agreement not to disclose the amount we paid for the Zagatti-collection.”
Below some moving images from the arrival, courtesy of Whiskytips. The video is in Dutch, but there are some basic English subtitles.
