By Laura Rancie.
Whisky is a great alternative investment asset, just like gold, wine and real estate. Whisky can preserve and even increase in value during economic instabilities, inflationary periods and recessions.
Here are some astounding facts, coming out from Aguttes – France’s leading independent auction house, about the golden-coloured spirit, that may just sway you to think about investing.
- The most expensive bottle in the world (wine and spirits combined) is a Scotch whisky: The Macallan 60-year-old 1926, sold for a staggering €1.7 million in 2019 in London. That’s the equivalent of $2,888,542 AUD.
- The whisky market is by far the largest spirits market in the world, representing more than €2 billion ($3.4 billion AUD) in volume and global trade value in 2020.
- Vintage single malts represent the most popular investment products for investors, collectors and enthusiasts, for their rarity, to the point where producers sometimes find it difficult to keep up with demand.
- Whiskies produced in Scotland and Japan are the must-haves for the premium segment. Japanese whisky exports reached 56 billion yen (around $600 million AUD) in 2022, a 14-fold increase in 10 years. For the first time in its history in 2022, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) announced that exports of Scotch whiskies have passed the €7 billion ($11.9 billion AUD) mark in a single year - and that's thanks to an increase of 37% on the previous year.
Want more evidence? Here are some tips from Vinovest.co based on trends from 2012 to 2022.
Glendronach Distillery, Scotland
Based on historical performance, data shows that the whisky industry has experienced stable growth in the past decade which is a good predictor it will continue to trend in the future.
- The Apex 1000 Index (tracking the performance of 1000 rare whisky bottles) has shown a steady growth of over 416%.
- The Rare Whisky Icon 100 Index (tracking the performance of 100 collector’s bottles) has grown by 391%.
- The Rare Whisky Vintage 50 Index (tracking the performance of 50 of the oldest bottles) has grown by 301%.
- According to the Knight Frank wealth report, the Knight Frank index of rare Scottish single malts has increased by 586%.
Demand for whisky is equal across the world, being Europe, Australia, North America and Asia.
Private investors can expect a return of about 10% but a rare and exceptional bottle can see much larger returns.
Hibiki Whisky, a premium Japanese Whisky from Chef Joel Best's collection at Besuto.
When we talked to Chef Joel Best from Bar Besuto, a leading Australian Japanese whisky expert, he told us: "The fact that Japanese whisky goes up in price about 20% year upon year, is the other reason we serve 15mL at Besuto. I want 46 people to try these rare, never before seen whiskies rather than 23.”
Another example is the 2016 Macallan 18-year-old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, increasing by 161% in less than two years. It sold at $463 in 2020 and jumped to $1209 in 2022.
There are multiple ways to invest including investing in whisky bottles, barrels, stocks and funds.
Although according to Chef Joel whisky is an interesting one because distillers can take a sample after two years and then every year after that until they think it’s ready to go - 98% of whisky will never make it to cask only.
"They’re not good enough. Only 2% of barrels will only make it to the level where it's cask only and the other will get blended. A lot of people go ‘I’d love to get my own cask’ but if you buy a cask, you’re taking a massive risk. It may only get to 60%-70% of where you want it. So that 2% is a pretty special thing!” he says.
