One of the Country’s Biggest Booze Collectors Explains Why He Spends Millions on Irish Whiskey Bottles

As Daley proclaims, “Irish is the future of whiskey."

Mike Daley has a large personality. And he’s got one of the largest private collections of whiskey in the United States to match.

Despite owning a sprawling estate in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the boisterous multi-millionaire is running out of bar space to display his liquid bounty, which currently amounts to several thousand bottles of scotch, American, and Irish whiskies. So he squirrels some of it away in filing cabinets, office drawers, and his beach house in coastal Delaware.

“Some of that effort is just to hide it from my wife,” he admits. “She seems to think I have a hoarding problem.”

Related: 21 Whiskey Cocktail Recipes for Every Enthusiast

Nevertheless, his latest outsized purchase is one he’ll want to keep prominently displayed for all visitors to see. It’s a walnut-ensconced treasure chest featuring a solitary ovular decanter of the Emerald Isle from The Craft Irish Whiskey Company. Alongside the 30-year-old juice in the box is a bespoke Fabergé egg — containing an actual emerald gem — a custom timepiece, and even a couple of Cohiba cigars. Only seven such sets are in existence. Daley just paid a whopping $2.8 million to call one his own.

Last month, a 1926 vintage expression from The Macallan grabbed international headlines as the world’s most expensive whisky ever. It nabbed $2.7 million at auction. Daley outspent that unknown buyer by $100,000, which would mean that he is, in fact, in possession of the priciest aged spirit of all time. Critics argue, however, that The Emerald Isle doesn’t qualify for the title because it comes packaged with all those other not-so-insignificant luxury trinkets.

But whether it’s the most expensive or merely one of the most expensive boozes of all time, what possesses a collector to spend so obscenely on one bottle of whiskey?

“I was on a luxury yacht during the Monaco Grand Prix, and I was surrounded by billionaires playing poker,” recalls Daley of the moment he decided to make the purchase. “They would continually bet on hands even if they knew they weren’t going to win. Because losing wasn’t an issue. Losing face was the most important thing to avoid. This echelon of people is always going to want what other people can’t have. So when it comes to whiskey, there’s always going to be a market for something so extravagant and so rare.”

A brand ambassador from The Craft Irish Whiskey Co. happened to be on that same boat and was happy to ensure that the avid collector left Monaco with something quite extravagant and rare, indeed.

Daley, who labels himself as an opportunistic collector, sees Irish whiskey, in particular, as the category of spirit with the greatest potential upside. It’s no coincidence that the majority of his stockpile consists of limited edition releases from Teeling, Midleton, Redbreast, and various other expressions from Craft Irish.

“The rebirth of Irish whiskey is relatively new, so I feel like I’m getting in on the ground floor,” he explains. “Luxury scotch, to me, is already a crowded type of market. But we’re only just starting to see luxury Irish make a name for itself. I guarantee you that in the years to come, it will get to where scotch is today.”

His powers of prediction have already reaped remarkable dividends. Daley made his fortune in the pharmaceutical space by investing heavily in hyaluronic acid in the previous decade, before it became a hot trend. His big bet in the spirits sector isn’t a shot in the dark, either. It’s supported by prolonged movement observed on Irish whiskey shelves. Data from the Distilled Spirits Council shows that some super premium spirits within the category have soared by nearly 2,800% in price over the past twenty years.

He sees Craft Irish leading that charge in the next twenty years, hence why he’s spent millions on their products. Thankfully, for those with more limited budgets, that brand has been veering into more accessibly-priced offerings. Earlier this year, it released The Donn, a dynamically aged single malt brimming with dark chocolate, prune, and cinnamon notes. The bottle, which is expected to retail in the U.S. for around $200, recently won double gold at the John Barleycorn Awards, an international spirits competition. It even inspired one judge to say, “I literally have to stop tasting now because following this pour would be like following Hendrix at Woodstock.”

And that might serve as even loftier praise than someone spending $2.8 million on a luxury set piece. Because, ultimately, it all ought to come down to how the whiskey tastes, not how much it costs. And not how it looks displayed on a countertop — or in a filing cabinet, as the case may be.

“Irish is the future of whiskey,” Daley proclaims. “And I’m excited to be part of it, as a collector, but most importantly as a drinker.”

For more Food & Wine news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Food & Wine.