Whisky as an investment?

Derek W · 12 Dec 2016 at 22:34

Evening All,

Sort of inspired if you will from TimTom's topic on 'Old bottles of whisky' topic.

Has anyone bought bottles of whisky in terms of investment to sell on at a later date?

The main reason i ask is that i saw the auction site linked in TimTom's and looked on thewhiskyexchange.com at some whisky which has been distilled in Brechin, in particular whisky from my year of birth. These bottles are already at a premium price but would quite like to have one from a sentimental point of view.

P.S I don't drink whisky so wouldn't be tempted to drink any potential profits!

FTM · 13 Dec 2016 at 14:57

seems a waste...how terrible would it be owning something only to never taste it!

I had a bottle of port ellen Gordon and macphail Connoisseurs Choice, so not even a distillery bottling!) about 10 years ago and it cost me 120 quid then...be worth far more now, but I have no regrets about drinking it.

D.P. · 13 Dec 2016 at 21:39

Flawed on many levels. Whisky doesn't really improve in bottle, it needs to be in a cask. You can't turn a cheap 10 year old whisky into a 30year vintage.

You could buy something that is already well aged, 30-45 year old and hold it for 10 years hoping that in the mean time its value goes up under normal market conditions but this is a risky investment.

What makes more sense is simply to invest in the whisky at the cask stage. Just go to this website and throw down your money.:
https://www.whiskyinvestdirect.com/
What I like about this site is you can see the historic returns and realize how dismal it is for the most part.

If you really care about profits without high risks then spend your money on FTSE 100 tracker.

Derek W · 13 Dec 2016 at 22:00

This is the whisky in question that I'm looking at. The distillery site is now the local Co-op so fancied a bit of history along with something from my year of birth. https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/b/40/north-port-brechin-single-malt-scotch-whisky

tom_nieto · 14 Dec 2016 at 09:16

Echoing the above sentiments, I wouldn't buy bottled Whisky as an investment. Buy it to drink or buy something else!

hughtrimble · 14 Dec 2016 at 09:33

Derek W said:
This is the whisky in question that I'm looking at. The distillery site is now the local Co-op so fancied a bit of history along with something from my year of birth. https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/b/40/north-port-brechin-single-malt-scotch-whisky

Then buy it for yourself, not looking to get money back off it.

Save it for your X birthday, as has been said, keeping it in the bottle does not age it (aside from degrading due to poor storage).

Lupis · 18 Dec 2016 at 19:24

D.P. said:
Flawed on many levels. Whisky doesn't really improve in bottle, it needs to be in a cask. You can't turn a cheap 10 year old whisky into a 30year vintage.

You could buy something that is already well aged, 30-45 year old and hold it for 10 years hoping that in the mean time its value goes up under normal market conditions but this is a risky investment.

What makes more sense is simply to invest in the whisky at the cask stage. Just go to this website and throw down your money.:
https://www.whiskyinvestdirect.com/
What I like about this site is you can see the historic returns and realize how dismal it is for the most part.

If you really care about profits without high risks then spend your money on FTSE 100 tracker.

It doesn't matter whether the whisky changes in the bottle, what matters is the quantity available. If you buy a 10 year old that is from a one off run, if it is a half decent whisky, chances are it will increase in value the scarcer it becomes. I'm not talking about the limited editions many of the major distillers are bringing out, which aren't really that limited at all and are mostly a marketing gimmick, but more the independant bottlings.

jpaul · 18 Dec 2016 at 21:32

Bailie Nicol Jarvie blend was one of relations favourite tipples as xmas gift, had been available for £25 but just discovered below and cannot be had for less than £40 now.

BNJ – which had a malt content of 60%, claimed to be the highest of any Scotch blend – was last bottled about 18 months ago, and was a casualty of the LVMH-owned company’s focus on single malt brands Glenmorangie and Ardbeg

even if you had anticipated impact of reduced supply , I guess a personal stock-pile would not necessarily be resellable at same price as shops now command, and, as said, ftse may have overtaken it.

Martynt74 · 19 Dec 2016 at 22:21

D.P. said:
What I like about this site is you can see the historic returns and realize how dismal it is for the most part.

While I'm not going to pretend I've read the website thoroughly. The main page suggests returns of 7% (after commission and inflation). That doesn't seem too dismal.

D.P. · 20 Dec 2016 at 17:29

Lupis said:
It doesn't matter whether the whisky changes in the bottle, what matters is the quantity available. If you buy a 10 year old that is from a one off run, if it is a half decent whisky, chances are it will increase in value the scarcer it becomes. I'm not talking about the limited editions many of the major distillers are bringing out, which aren't really that limited at all and are mostly a marketing gimmick, but more the independant bottlings.

But the same applies to numerous other times though, there is nothing special that will insure greater returns.

D.P. · 20 Dec 2016 at 18:13

Marvt74 said:
While I'm not going to pretend I've read the website thoroughly. The main page suggests returns of 7% (after commission and inflation). That doesn't seem too dismal.

I was looking through the charts rather than their fancy graphic, after looking at about a dozen the returns looked pretty dire compared to a FTSE100 tracker. I expect there were some casks that saw very high returns and has pushed up their 8 year average figure to 7%. As always, you might get lucky and see a 100% return or you might make a loss, but a 7% return is at about the same as the FTSE 100 long term returns. Within shorter period there is a lot of volatility, e.g. in the US stock between 1980 and the crash in 2000 was returning 18% per year on average.

byeo · 21 Dec 2016 at 07:59

FTM said:
seems a waste...how terrible would it be owning something only to never taste it!

The OP doesn't drink whisky and is only interesting in making money* off it, it's not a waste in his eyes. Plenty of people invest in certain things for the sole intention of making money, I read about an art dealer who, over time had hundreds of different pieces of art for the intention of making money, he ended up only keeping hold of one piece as it was the only one he actually liked.

*not that I'm saying he'll make any money