Have you ever considered investing in… whisky?
Not such a crazy idea, actually. Whisky has outperformed traditional investments such as stocks, oil and even gold as an investment opportunity. Investing in rare bottles has become an industry in its own right, and auction houses have been quick to capitalise on the trend. The number of whisky auctions has grown enormously over the past decade, generating a turnover of more than €15 million in 2016. Meanwhile, the World Whisky Index continues its upward trajectory. In 2015, it recorded an increase of almost 15%, while gold fell by more than 10% over the same period.
Traditional auction houses such as McTear’s, Sotheby’s and Christie’s still organise whisky auctions, but collectors are increasingly turning to the much more accessible world of online auctions. Good examples include WhiskyAuction.com, ScotchWhiskyAuctions.com and Catawiki.com. The first two hold monthly auctions, while the latter even organises one every week. All you need is a credit card and an email address, and within minutes you can create an account and start buying and selling.
Older vintages, limited editions and bottles from closed distilleries are particularly sought after on the secondary market. And while that market continues to grow, auction houses are noticing a change in their clientele, both among sellers and buyers. The whisky enthusiast who could once pick up older, rare bottles at a fair price is slowly but surely being pushed aside by wealthy buyers who deliberately acquire bottles with the intention of reselling them later at a profit.
That hurts, I must admit. Although it spares both my liver and my wallet a certain amount of suffering, it breaks my heart that I can no longer put that particular single cask Auchentoshan 1965 to my lips. Back in 2010, I could still buy a bottle for around €350. Today, it changes hands across the virtual auction counter for three times that amount.
There is no end to this trend in sight, which will undoubtedly drive prices even higher in the long run. Not to mention the fact that it also attracts fraudsters. The number of counterfeit bottles on the market is becoming rather alarming. Macallan is one of the most widely traded whiskies in the world, but also one of the most frequently counterfeited. Fortunately, most auction houses employ experts who can separate the wheat from the chaff.
The category I personally find particularly difficult to stomach is what I call bottle flippers: opportunistic characters who quickly snap up large quantities of a limited release and offer them for sale, often before the bottles have even reached the shelves of ordinary shops, simply to pocket a quick profit.
That really gets on my nerves. In many cases, they have not even tasted the whisky. But then, that is not what interests them.
And at the end of the day, whisky is made to be drunk! Not to disappear into a vault.
I have made a promise to myself: I intend to drink my whisky cabinet dry before I leave this earthly existence.
Only one bottle will remain… to be poured at the gathering after my funeral.
May the Malt be with you!
