Please enjoy this article on collectable whisky written by Kerry Hall here at Quastel Associates;
The image of sitting by an open fire sipping a fine single malt whisky can conjure up feelings of warmth and contentment for those fans of the Scottish spirit. But did you know that it could also conjure up the image of serious pound signs in recent years? Whisky prices over the last ten years have soared (in some cases by up to 600%), especially when you delve into the sales of rarer bottles made by some of the most well-known distilleries in Scotland (think Macallan and Laphroig).
This dramatic rise is primarily driven by the Asian market (China, India and Singapore being the main buyers) and despite the current pandemic, this increase shows little sign of slowing down any time soon. In fact, the pandemic suggests that collectors potentially have more time to peruse the online world of whisky auctions while investors are staying clear of the stock markets, which have been decimated by the current crisis and are turning to alternative areas to invest their money. You could also argue that 2020 has offered the perfect excuse to lift one’s spirits!
At a recent auction, ‘The Red Collection’ of six Macallan mature aged single malt whiskies sold for over £750,000. The collection included bottles aged for 40, 50, 60, 71, 74 and 78 years making the latter the oldest bottle ever released from The Macallan Distillery. The only other set of this collection will remain in the archives of the distillery making this purchase, by an Asian private collector, one of a kind. While this is an extreme case, all those whisky collectors out there would be wise to have a browse of their collection as bottles purchased in the 1970’s have been fetching between £1,000 and £1,600 at recent auctions. Some sales of bottles from this decade have also seen miniatures fetch as much as £240! If your collection spans the decades, you could be sitting on some rare and valuable bottles.
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