Food & Beverage

This whiskey collection has a $250K crown jewel

Universal Whiskey Experience founder Mahesh Patel has been collecting whiskey for more than 30 years, amassing a stockpile of 5,000 plus bottles with a value he estimates at $10 million.

One of the standouts in the collection is the Royal Salute Tribute to Honor, a rare batch celebrating the jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. It goes for about $250,000 a bottle.

But Patel, the top whiskey collector in the United States, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" whiskey enthusiasts can begin investing in spirits at a considerably lower price.

For example, a bottle of limited Whiskey Syndicate 58/6 containing 18 single malts can be had for about $160. Further up the rung, a 26-year-old single malt, Prometheus, costs $1,000.

Patel says he lives by a simple rule: "I believe in buying at least two of everything I can afford. I always open one."