It was amassed by whisky collector Willard Folsom, who passed away recently. It is said to includes 3,000 whiskies. The auction will be in November at Bonhams, according to this recent article in the Herald.
I looked on the Bonhams site for details, but couldn’t find any. (Maybe I just wasn’t looking in the right place.)
the website shows a whiskey auction on the 18th at 11 am but says no details available yet.
link is here
http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/wspd_cgi.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=usa&screen=Catalogue&iSaleNo=17245
Yeah, I saw that too, and thought that it might be this auction. If I get any more info, I’ll post it up here.
Per the Luxist website – The first section of the collection of the Late Willard Folsom will be offered for sale on November 18 at Bonhams Edinburgh, with the remaining stock sold in New York and Hong Kong in early 2010.
And Bonhams is inviting entries for it’s Nov 18 sale until October 5, so it may be awhile before we see a list of what’s going up for auction.
Thanks Dutch for the additional info.
I guess Willard wasn’t concerned about experiencing his fantastic collection, other than as objects d’art. Or perhaps he drank plenty of his bottles, but had so many that he couldn’t possibly get to all of them.
Regardless, Mr. Folsom will enjoy neither the tastes to be explored in all those rare, unopened whiskies, nor the financial reward associated with their impending sale.
Kind of a shame either way. Lessons to be learned here, perhaps?
Sam
Nobody enjoyed whisky more than Bill Folsom and I guarantee you he sampled most of the whiskies he collected – He just collected lots and lots of bottles of the same whisky.
Also,no one was more kind, generous and geniune than Bill Folsom. Those who love scotch whisky lost a great friend when Bill passed away and I hope whoever is the high bidder at the auction recognizes that fact.
The Dundee Dell’s annual August MegaTasting has been named in Bill’s honor.
Thanks for the positive clarification, B.J. Good to hear of this whisky-oriented life well lived.
Hi Sam,
You have a valid point about having too much whisky, but Bill never really saw it that way. He enjoyed every aspect of whisky imaginable, from obscure barley strains to obscure symbols on the underside of bottles. His collection reflects the culmination of his passion for all things whisky.
Bill Folsom was a one of a kind. He will be sorely missed.
For those interested in the auction, it is guaranteed to be a remarkable event!
Thanks for the feedback, John. Good to know that Bill was an ambassador for good whisky. Sounds like a guy I’d have liked to meet and shared a good drink with.
Godspeed, Bill!