Melvyn Yeo’s first taste of whisky wasn’t the greatest. But it was the rite of passage for most Singaporean men in the early ’80s and ’90s. A group of teenagers with shaved heads would book out from their respective military camps on Friday nights and head to a nightclub. “But alcohol inside clubs is pricey and we had little money, right? So, we would buy a cheap bottle of whisky from the supermarket and enjoy it before going in,” recalls Yeo, laughing.
The whisky was not to Yeo’s liking and it put him off drinking it for a long time. Even after he completed his military conscription and began his career, he shied away from that alcohol. He always associated the brown liquid with the sharp, acrid taste of his youth.
His alcoholic discovery only really began when he was working in Hong Kong with Goldman Sachs. When Hong Kong abolished the wine tax in 2008, Yeo’s nose for investments was piqued. With more potential vino drinkers, there was bound to be capital appreciation for great bottles, he reasoned. It would be foolish to begin without due diligence, so Yeo educated himself and eventually completed the WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Level 3 course. Only wine professionals and serious wine enthusiasts would tackle this advanced level, but Yeo had fallen in love with the grape.
Whisky began only a decade later. Yeo was attending a private launch event of the Bentley Continental GT that had several whiskies for consumption. One, in particular, caught his attention: a Carsebridge 48 Year Old grain whisky that he fell in love with at first sip. He enjoyed it so much that he bought the remaining bottles, all 16 of them.
Today, the founder and managing partner of investment firm TRIREC estimates that he has a collection of “around 200 whisky collectible bottles”, all of which are stored at home. This is on top of the whisky bottles he buys to drink, the five casks he bought (two have been delivered) with friends, and the cases of wine he has bought over the years. It’s a massive collection, but Yeo has enjoyed every step of the process.
A profile distinctly missing from his collection are those with a lot of smoke and peat. He prefers balanced and rounded whiskies, something he only realised the more he drank.
“The whisky journey boils down to four facets. One, discovering the tastes I like, and don’t enjoy. Second, through this journey, I’ve gained an appreciation of the devotion, effort, and craftsmanship needed to make whisky,” says Yeo.
He continues, “The third is brewing an appreciation for nature. For example, when I walked The Glen Grant Gardens recently, I learned so much about the community and the history of the distillery. Finally, and the most important aspect, it’s the friendships that I make along the way while enjoying a dram of whisky.”
Of course, not all of Yeo’s whiskies are meant to be opened. The Glen Grant Dennis Malcolm 60th Anniversary Edition (right) is one such bottle. It’s a work of art. Glencairn Studio designed the hand-blown crystal decanter to resemble the distillery’s tall and slender pot stills. Within each creation is whisky from a hand-selected Oloroso sherry cask, filled on 24 Oct 1960 and now, emptied to celebrate the 60-year career of The Glen Grant’s master distiller Dennis Malcolm. There are only 360 decanters worldwide, and one of them is nestled among Yeo’s “200-plus” bottles.
Yeo had the opportunity to meet Malcolm and was so bowled over by his story—joining the distillery at 15 as a cooper after being born on the grounds and slowly rising through the ranks to his current position—that he bought a 2006 cask from The Glen Grant distillery. The year has two meanings for him. First, it’s the birth year of his first son, and second, it’s the year that Malcolm returned to the distillery. “I love the stories behind a collectible bottle of whisky. That’s one of my primary considerations before I buy one,” says Yeo. One of the 186 bottles derived from the cask was signed by Malcolm and is in his possession.
The other is its potential financial return. Like all investments, there is risk. “But at least I can drink my investment if it doesn’t pan out!” he laughs. Therein lies the eternal debate: when do you open a bottle to drink versus keeping it? Yeo also constantly grapples with this question.
A long time ago, he bought several cases of Yamazaki 18 Year Olds “before anyone cared for them”. He intended to drink them. “Of course, one bottle now goes for close to $2,000. So, do I still open them?” says Yeo. Eventually, he sold half. He’s enjoying the other half, safe in the knowledge that they are essentially free.
Drinking and investing are easy, according to Yeo. The final consideration is the relatability to his life. He is now looking for another cask laid down in 2021, the year his second son was born. His sons will drink far better whisky than Yeo did when he was 18, scrounging some money together with his friends to buy convenience-store alcohol. But that’s the appeal of collecting whisky. It is a circle of life.
