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THE MOST REMARKABLE COLLECTION OF MALT
A day with Valentino Zagatti There are a number of great collections of Scotch Whisky around the world and to call one ‘The Best’ is a brave move, open to debate that no one should waste their time upon. One collection may be bigger, more focused, more comprehensive etc. than another but one unique aspect raises Valentino Zagatti’s collection head and shoulders above any other; the publication of his catalogue in a magnificently presented 300 page book “The Best Collection of Malt:”
And another thing, this collection is unique because its custodian has never even seen it; Valentino is blind. And that is why I was so keen to make the trip to meet the man and see his achievement. Marco Frisso, my attentive and generous host, was the inspiration for and publisher of the book. In a memorable two nighter, he took me east from Milan airport, stopping for a privileged tour of the Lamborghini factory to try one on for size. (It didn’t fit.) And then on to Lugo, a few miles from the north Adriatic Sea near Bologna. Approaching our destination we weaved through a maze of leafy streets to a pretty but unremarkable four bedroom villa. There at the door was a smiling man with busy hands. Inside was a small living room, made so because of the shelving containing the collection, a suite of chairs and a television and the dining room adjoining through double doors. Here lunch was served by Mrs Jole Zagatti. Joynson guzzled eagerly on salami and, a personal favourite, Parma ham, helping himself to more like a native, unaware of what was to follow. Joynson replete, the spread was cleared to make way for macaroni and cream, then tagliatelle Roma, then a main course of rabbit and pork, by which time the samples were necessarily minuscule. After an adequate pause a fresh fruit salad completed the meal which had been accompanied by five wines and one grappa. Coffee was time for whisky. Not just a hoarder, Valentino enjoys all Scotch but passionately maintains that the best malt whiskies were bottled in the Sixties and Seventies, (blends even earlier.) “These whiskies are another world,” he proclaimed. By now communication was becoming possible despite my host’s limited English and my total lack of Italian coupled with being deprived of the option of drafty gesticulation or wee sketches. To demonstrate his point about vintage bottlings he disappeared upstairs and returned with a Lagavulin 12yo, (White Label ca. 1975), Glen Forres 12yo, (before the name change to Edradour), Oban 12yo decanter bottle (discontinued mid-80s) and a Macallan 1938, bottled 1970. Each one he announced while presenting them, so familiar is he with every tactile facet; his blindness is no longer a disability. He returned with a second armful of similar vintages insisting that the Sheriff’s Bowmore 7yo which is “superb—must be better than the new 40yo even” should be added to the espresso! My steady hand obliged with a whisky that was distilled before I was born.
We spoke throughout the afternoon at the table with my occasional forays into the adjoining room to view the collection— too much to take in in one viewing, I had lots of small samples, like the whiskies we were trying. “My collection is the purpose of my life. I started in 1960, first with a Cognac but then I had a malt and that was it...” The collection now numbers in excess of 4,000 bottles, (2,400 in the book). It is almost entirely Single Malt Scotch—a little blend, vatted, yankee and other spirits are gathered but only if the drinking quality warrants it. For Valentino is an enthusiastic drinker, but in the Italian style where a taste of everything is far better than a 12oz portion of one, something I had learned from the monster lunch. In the final year of the second world war, at the age of 11, Valentino was a victim of an enthusiastic land mine removing any perception of light. In 1955 he married Jole and the collection started in 1960, the year of their first child, “This and Whisky is wonderful—better than my sight.” “I know my bottles. Every bottle is different.” By way of proof, only once did he mis-identify a bottle. He returned from one of his forays upstairs with a new Arran bottle, well the outer box anyway. Within was an independently bottled 19yo sherry cask Glenfiddich! “Ah-Haa!” we chorused, “Gotcha!” (or words to that effect.) “My friends,” he explained, “they have swapped.” “Whisky is to be drunk. Whisky creates many friends. My friends come and drink, I try to sell them the book and they say ‘yes, but let us drink first’. They drink my old whiskies—but they never buy the book!” As darkness fell, I was taken upstairs to the source of all these fine dramming bottles, the stash for drinking; a plethora of bottles from the last 75 years, all with broken seals. Blends, singles and a few other spirits. The room has been brilliantly decorated by Jole with flattened-out presentation cartons from dead bottles; the best ideas are the most simple. Another room houses the cased stock, reserved for enjoying plus the overspill from the collection, relegated from the display downstairs. The two children left home long ago and now the Zagatti’s have four grandchildren—and two extra rooms devoted to Scotch Whisky!
Jole showed me the record of enjoyment—every bottle which has been consumed has had its label soaked off and gummed by Valentino into one of a collection of seven leather-bound scrap books. There were some great drams there, many the stuff of legend. Mrs Zagatti is a very important curator for the collection. She is happy to let her husband speak of his collection but her own expression is one of equal pride. Yes, she enjoys the collection.
The man’s knowledge and memory for all things whisky is astonishing, not just the collection or the great bottlings—many of which we were enjoying—but all whisky knowledge has been absorbed. The Italian state provide a Military Companion who can read and translate for him and I can imagine that there is no word omitted from any publication. Valentino can recall the information and its source with the efficiency of the most modern of databases. He recalls his one visit to Scotland and to Loch Fyne Whiskies shop, “I bought Laphroaig 1977. You had three bottles, I bought two. I drank them both. I wish I had bought the third. Superb! Much better than the 1976.” I was told that he knew which bottles had been photographed or not far better than the photo-director’s notes. The tales of the photo-shoot were remarkable; it took two months and occupied two rooms. The large double page spreads [e.g. lower right] demanded seven hours to prepare and occupied a space one metre wide but two meters deep in order to achieve the required depth of perspective.
The collection is financed by his pension and contributions from friends. The selection is assisted by a small group of globetrotting chums who will advise Valentino of new expressions or old finds. Reporting back to him, he will decide which is worthy of inclusion and if the cost is agreeable. But this is not the collection of an obsessive; there are gaps but this does not trouble him. He also knows the value of a bottling, citing various over priced offerings from today’s greedy distillers, “I would never pay that.” It seems that he has no illusions as to the value of his collection. A recent offer of a truck load of lira has been refused and I reckon that a convoy would be turned away also. The man is cheerful because of his collection; it is his life. After supper and the approach of midnight, we had to pull ourselves away from this delightful family. I poured myself a final soupçon of white label Lagavulin 12yo with its long salty finish for the drive to our hotel, like the tears of happiness welling up within. BLIND MAN’S BLUFF
We included a few facets to make it more interesting and identifiable to a blind man including a tall three part labelling and a more unusual glass. “Bottle is Glenmorangie.” He was right!
The Best Collection of Malt is an essential reference for anyone interested in collecting or studying Scotch Whisky.
£80.00 for 300 large format pages of top quality printing—highly recommended. Watch out for a slim companion update volume in the next year or so. |
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