A Vietnamese man has been recognised by Guinness World Records as having the world’s most valuable whisky collection.

The world-beating collection belonging to Viet Nguyen Dinh Tuan, a businessman in Ho Chi Minh City, has been valued by experts at Rare Whisky 101 at a “hammer price” of £10,770,635.

An extra valuation of £13,032,468 was made, adding a 21% buyers premium if it was to be sold through a UK auctioneer such as Sotheby’s.

His assortment contains 535 bottles of some of the rarest and oldest whiskies, which are locked securely in his bespoke whisky lounge.

After collecting whisky for more than 20 years, Mr Viet said it had become his “life’s passion”.

He said: “Every spare moment I get, I’m searching auction sites and trading websites to find famous and rare whiskies from around the world.

“Clearly this requires a lot of patience and no shortage of tenacity but I’m proud of my efforts.

“As for my collection, I have no intention of selling any of it. Not one bottle.

“In fact, I’ll continue to hunt for more old and rare bottles and add to and enrich it.”

He added: “My first reaction was one of surprise. However, I’m really happy and feel honoured to be recognised by Guinness World Records as the owner of the world’s most valuable whisky collection.

“It feels like an acknowledgement of all my hard work and dedication over the past 20 years.”

Mr Viet is believed to be one of possibly three collectors in the world to own all three variants of the Macallan 1926 bottling – Fine and Rare label, the Peter Blake label and the Valerio Adami label.

A bottle of Fine and Rare sold recently for £1.2 million.

His collection also holds one of only 12 bottles of the oldest Bowmore ever released – with a similar bottle fetching £300,000 at auction recently – and one of only 24 bottles of the 1919 vintage Springbank, with another similar bottle selling recently for £220,000.

Andy Simpson, co-founder of Rare Whisky 101, said: “We were somewhat gobsmacked, not to mention a little envious, when we realised the breadth and depth of Mr Viet’s collection.

“It’s a truly stunning example of one person’s 20-year passion and desire to seek out the finest, rarest bottles of whisky in the world.

“There are certainly reasonably well-known whisky collections around the world which contain far more bottles from a volume perspective.

“However, from a pure value perspective, we’re confident this collection is head and shoulders above the rest.”