The largest private collection of whisky ever to go to auction has been unveiled with an estimated value of up to £8m.

The so-called “perfect collection” consists of 3,900 bottles, some of which are valued individually at more than £1m.

It is being sold by the family of the late Richard Gooding, a former PepsiCo bottling magnate from Colorado, for whom whisky collecting was a life’s work.

Mr Gooding built and nurtured the collection over many years with regular trips to Scotland to source special bottles at auctions and distilleries before his death in 2014.

Until recently his collection had been housed in his “pub” at his US home – a room showcasing some of the world’s most rare and coveted whisky.

The “library” of whiskies includes a number of bottlings from some of Scotland’s lost distilleries such as Stromness Distillery, which makes Old Orkney, and the Dallas Dhu distillery that closed in 1983.

The collection also includes a bottle of 1926 Fine and Rare Macallan, one of which recently became the most expensive in the world when it sold for £1.5m.

Bottles from distilleries including The Macallan, Bowmore and Springbank are also among the haul.

The selection has an estimated value of between £7m and £8m.

Iain McClune, founder of “Whisky Auctioneer”, which will sell the collection online early next year, said: “The perfect collection by Mr Gooding is truly one of a kind.

“Its sheer scale and rarity makes it one of the most exciting discoveries in the whisky world, and we’re thrilled to unveil it to the public.

“Each bottle has been meticulously examined for authenticity, and this library of whiskies includes some very special malts including Black Bowmore, which was Mr Gooding’s favourite dram.

“This is also the largest collection of The Macallan ever to go to auction including the limited opportunity to acquire the 1926 Valerio Adami 60-year-old and 1926 Fine & Rare.”

Mr Gooding’s widow Nancy said: “It was clear to us as a family that collecting Scotch was one of Richard’s greatest passions, an endeavour that spanned over two decades. He loved every aspect of it, from researching the many single malt distilleries to visiting them and tasting their whiskies.

“He was always pleased to acquire the bottles that he was searching for over the years. His mission was to collect a bottle that represented every single distillery, but his favourite was always Bowmore with his preferred whisky being Black Bowmore.”

The collection will go on sale via the Whisky Auctioneer website over two auctions from 7 to 17 February and 10 to 20 April 2020.

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