Investing in Whisky

Lammasu

I think Whisky Invest Direct was mentioned above. Good idea I suppose if you're looking at by the cask purchase. Personally I felt the Grain wasn't worth it as the £0.15 LPA charge strips most of the profit for the first couple of years. Single malts would be a better bet although I haven't invested with yet as I haven't seen single malts I would personally see as being a decent value proposition. I had meant to see if any are used in famous brands like JW Black label or Chivas Regal  given that's what the brokerage is meant service. 

Lammasu

If you're looking for investment Whiskies  Rare Whisky 101 produce a number of indices on their website they claim are based on 10 years worth of data from 675,143 bottles of Single Malt Scotch covering 59,792 different bottlings. I can't vouch for the veracity or objectivity of the data (they are a whisky valuations and brokerage company ) but they have some interesting data including the most heavily traded (collectors index) and bet investments (investors index). 

brasso

gg23 said:

I'm guessing you read that BBC News story yesterday about a lad selling whisky he had been bought every year by his dad as a deposit for a house?

I got the impression that the BBC were rather more keen on having an "Impressive" story so glossed over something perhaps rather important, that the dad effectively got lucky by buying a band that had become quite trendy.  So I'd imagine that it really is a gamble, you have to pick the right brand to do as well as this guy.  And I doubt anyone is going to know which brand will suddenly become popular in 20+ years time.

To be fair, Macallan hasn't just become "quite trendy". When I worked in the wine and spirits business back in the 1980s, Macallan was the go-to brand for collectors and connoisseurs. One problem that hasn't been touched on enough is security of storage. You either pay a good chunk to store in a secure warehouse or store it at home, with all the risks of accidental damage or theft. More trouble than it's worth really. I have a few cases of 2005 claret in storage which are worth far more than what I paid for them, but once I factor in all the storage fees plus future auction premiums plus tax plus delivery charges plus optional investments I could have made with the money, yes, I still have a potential profit but not sure if it's worth all the hassle. 

Stubod

Would never be able to stop myself from "just having a taste" to see what it was like...probably make a change from Bushmills!