A PENSIONER on the southern Costa Blanca has entered the Guinness Book of Records for having the largest brandy collection on the planet.
Manuel Bru – or should that be 'Brew' – has 1,057 bottles in his house, of which the oldest was manufactured in 1888.
The 81-year-old from Elche (Alicante province) started his collection at age 55 and says his world record certificate is 'a dream ome true'.
He applied after meeting a brandy fanatic from Mallorca who 'only had 840 bottles'.
Manuel posed for photos with his collection at the request of the Guinness Book of Records authors so they could be included in the next edition, due out in October this year.
He says his collecting quest has slowed down in recent years because sales of brandy have dropped, as the price per bottle has shot up, but says now he has beaten the world record he would have 'no problem' in selling his hoard at the right price to the right person 'who was keen to take them on and had the cash needed to maintain the collection', rather than simply drinking the lot.
Manuel's passion began over 50 years ago when he and his mother ran a small food-and-drink shop with a bar on the premises, and he kept the remaining bottles when they shut down the business.
The oldest in his collection, bottled in 1888, was bought for just 150 pesetas (about €3.60) in Barcelona's Chinatown.
His bottles come in all shapes and sizes, as he has amassed numerous limited editions, with many decorative versions and some even in the form of footballers, bullfighters and Spanish soldiers.
