should I buy a barrel of whiskey?

Nebulous2

Aretnap said:

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





It didn't go very well...







I lost two days!

Apologies for the diversion, 


I recently discovered this by Frankie Miller:-  Frankie Miller - Bottle of whiskey [Lyrics] - YouTube

"It's funny how small things don't matter
When you can't recall what you have done.
I had a fight with a bottle of whiskey last night
and the bottle of whiskey won."

Stubod

"should I buy a barrel of whiskey?....."

...only if you have got the space to store it....??

scottiescott

I worked in the industry for nearly 40 years and wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.
Whisky only cost a couple of quid a litre to produce and even allowing for a mark up, shouldn't cost more than £1k for a 200 litre barrel.
The costs to get it to bottle are huge. Duty alone is about £30 per lite and you have to factor in costs such as storage, insurance, transport, bottling etc.
Personally I would say you could make decent profits if you buy the "right" bottles of whisky. There is a hierarchy of desirability with whisky collecting and most sought after bottles are limited edition expressions from the likes of Macallan, Springbank, Ardbeg etc. Do your research, there loads of info out there.

Bravepants

If you are serious about this then make enquiries at some of the more well known distilleries.

When I visited the Orkney Islands a few years ago I went on a tour of the Highland Park Distillery in Kirkwall. They had a room with barrels that had been bought by investors.

agent69

kipsterno1 said:

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.

The trouble with these sorts of investments is:

• how do you know the whiskey actually exists,
• if it does exist, how do you know where it is
• how do you know it is insured

If you are just accepting the word of the person that is selling it, then you're taking a risk.

adindas

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. 

The general rule of investing. Invest on what you know, the whisky business industry, the business model, the quality of various types of whiskies.

There are a lot of fraudsters, scammers out-there regarding Whisky Cask Scam. This is what  have been discovered sofar. Just google it. This is not to suggest all of them are scammers, but it is important to learn about their business models before start plunging your feet into the water especially if you are planning to put significant amount of money into it.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/18974963/man-arrested-scotch-whisky-scam/

I do not know this guy, what he is talking was already covered in the media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqpdDYfHgrE

kipsterno1

The trouble with these sorts of investments is:

• how do you know the whiskey actually exists,
• if it does exist, how do you know where it is
• how do you know it is insured

If you are just accepting the word of the person that is selling it, then you're taking a risk.

In my case I bought direct from the distillery. It was stored by them in bond and I could even visit it.

I wouldn't buy from anywhere other than direct from the distillery. 

Zerforax

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/apr/10/liquid-gold-heres-the-sobering-truth-about-investing-in-whisky

Easy to read article on some pitfalls for wannabe investors..

Nebulous2

Stubod said:

"should I buy a barrel of whiskey?....."

...only if you have got the space to store it....??

It doesn't work like that. Moving it out of a bonded warehouse means you have to pay the duty on it.... 

pecunianonolet

As somebody having worked in the Scotch business for well over a decade in the luxury side and private client business with casks costing clients good 7 figure sums, and bottlings with 100k+ in price per bottle I think I know a very little bit about this topic.

The fact that you seem to not even know the difference between whisky and whiskey is an immediate STOP sign!

I would suggest to spend money on bottlings to drink and enjoy - full stop.

The cask market is inflated, lots of criminals and people who think they can make a lot of money quick. There are serious sellers of course but, if, only buy from a distillery direct unless you have the right contacts. My advise is to never buy one of the first 50 casks ever filled from a new distillery. Too many factors, leading to unpredicatable risk.

Secondly, the cask purchase is one thing, the bottling and the duty is a very different beast to be paid for when you actually bottle. Also, you might end up with many bottles of something you don't like. Don't forget, the angels take their share, too.