Owning whisky casks is an increasingly popular form of
investment
As the price of rare bottles and casks of Scotch whisky has
risen in recent years, inevitably too have entrepreneurs trying to
turn this into an investable opportunity.
While several companies offer single malt as a way to diversify
portfolios – much like fine wine or commodities like gold – other
schemes have a less clear grasp on the actual asset and some have
been revealed to be fraudulent.
According to the most recent Knight Frank Index, the value of
rare whisky has risen by 540% during the last decade; faster than
any other collectable luxury asset, such as watches, art or classic
cars.
Collector and investor interest has also been piqued by recent
headlines like a 1988 cask of The Macallan becoming the most expensive ever sold at auction – at
just under $1.3m.
So Insider investigated the good, the digitally ethereal and the
downright fraudulent, while asking what the industry and
authorities can do to reassure investors.
The major players
In June, Scotch Whisky Investments (SWI) announced proposals for a mixed-used
development in Falkland, which will incorporate its new corporate
headquarters, alongside an expansion of a proposed whisky storage
facility in Glenrothes.
Currently headquartered in Sassenheim, the Netherlands, it has a
license to offer financial investment products – in the form of
bottles and casks of single malt Scotch whisky – issued by the
Dutch Authority for…
