should I buy a barrel of whiskey?

clive0510

I keep seeing pop ups and adverts inviting me to buy or invest in, a barrel of whiskey. or whisky. can someone answer for me a questions. 
is it a good thing to be involved in? 
are any gains I make gauranteed? 
would I actually own a barrel of whiskey/whisky? 
do I get any booze for myself to consume? 
any help or advice appreciated. 

wiseonesomeofthetime

Depends how thirsty you are I suppose, and whether you even like whiskey 🤷‍♂️

I'll stick to buying it by the litre, personally.

Beddie

It's such a good idea, they have to use dodgy internet advertising and popups to persuade people to buy it.

Must be good!

Seriously though, these are all obvious scams and you should keep well clear.

Nebulous2

Are you a serious whisky drinker / collector?  I'm in whisky country and I've some acquaintances who have bought a barrel, let it age then had it bottled with their own printed labels. It's hard to get accurate figures as to what it cost, but it wasn't a cheap way of getting their drink. 

I also know somebody where it appears to have gone wrong, a previously mothballed distillery looking for capital, who sold them a barrel on a distillery tour, to raise some capital. Now a few years on, with a change of ownership, the distillery is making threatening noises that it needs to be moved or bottled now, or they will take ownership of it. It would be better with a few more years, but it appears they aren't going to be allowed to get that. 

Making money from investments in niche products, wine, art, classic cars or whisky requires a detailed knowledge of the subject matter. If you don't know exactly what you are doing, you are much more likely to be scammed, than to make money.  

wmb194

clive0510 said:

I keep seeing pop ups and adverts inviting me to buy or invest in, a barrel of whiskey. or whisky. can someone answer for me a questions. 
is it a good thing to be involved in? 
are any gains I make gauranteed? 
would I actually own a barrel of whiskey/whisky? 
do I get any booze for myself to consume? 
any help or advice appreciated. 

Why would anyone guarantee your gains?

This sort of this is far too esoteric. If you want to invest in whisk(e)y and booze in general you might be better to stick to listed companies like Diageo*, Pernod Ricard and Heineken.

*Amongst others, owns Johnnie Walker.

https://www.diageo.com/en/our-brands/brand-portfolio

Aretnap

I invested in a large bottle of Glenfiddich once...





It didn't go very well...







I lost two days!





(Seriously this is an area which is rotten with scams. Don't even think about it unless you already know a lot about whisky. And if you do know enough about it to make investing in whisky a sensible idea, you won't need to start by looking at pop up adverts on dodgy internet sites.)

Albermarle

If you like Whiskey and have enough room at home to store a barrel of it, then it could be a good bulk buy.

As an investment, somewhat less attractive......

DannyCarey

clive0510 said:

I keep seeing pop ups and adverts inviting me to buy or invest in, a barrel of whiskey. or whisky. can someone answer for me a questions. 
is it a good thing to be involved in? 
are any gains I make gauranteed? 
would I actually own a barrel of whiskey/whisky? 
do I get any booze for myself to consume? 
any help or advice appreciated. 

People who buy barrels of whiskey for an investment (I think) fall into two categories

1. Those who love whiskey, know the market and know what they are doing
2. Those who get swindled by a scammy ad. 

It sounds like you aren't number 1. 

agent69

Ufortunately the op is just too late to invest in this dead cert

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11942319/How-British-artist-scammed-world-thinking-millionaire-whisky-investor.html

clive0510

thanks for the replys. i think on balance the money i was thinking of putting into it is better off staying where ir is. premium bonds. thanks for the tips.

kipsterno1

Personally I think the boat has sailed on this one.

First of all if a pop up is suggesting you invest in whisky it is likely to be a scam.

My experience. From the late 90's I brought whisky that I liked but with an eye on making a profit. If it didn't make anything I could always drink it. In 2004 I bought a 250l cask for 1k. It was insured and stored for the first five years after that it cost £25 per year.

In 2021, via a broker, I sold it. I drew 24 bottles at cask strength (52%) before this costing £560 (£23.33 per bottle). What remained in the cask was sold for just over 11.5k. There were some broker's fees and movement costs.

The same cask now would cost 5k plus to buy.

If you do go down the buying individual bottles always buy two. That way you can drink one and save the other.