Whisky can vary in price from a few hundred dollars for a bottle of The Macallan to more than a five-room apartment for a bottle of Yamazaki. Instead of flushing your hard-earned cash down the toilet at night, why not put it to good use?
If you’re looking to invest in whisky, we recommend reading up on some investment advice from a distillery industry insider.
Rickesh Kishnani has made a living off of whisky for decades. He put up $12 million (S$16.4 million) to start the first-ever private equity fund dedicated solely to collecting and investing in unique single malt whisky in 2014. This September, the fund cashed out at US$26 million (S$35.6 million) for a gross annual rate of return of 17 percent.
Kishnani owns a sizable share of Whisky Hammer, an online bidding site, and Still Spirit, an online retail portal, through his firm, Rare Whisky Holdings.
Read Kishnani’s three tips on investing in whisky today.
1. Choose a reputable seller.
Finding a reliable whisky seller who can advise you on your endeavors is paramount. It’s wrong, for instance, to make you buy a cask without first letting you try it. Numerous vendors today provide price tags and inventory inventories but need samples of the products. That should have rung the first alarm bell.
Second, you must ensure they have the legal documentation and permits to move a barrel into your name. If you are not a British resident, you must appoint a business to act as your third-party tax agent with Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenues (HMCR). You can get a despatch order signed by the vendor and the storage by requesting authorization from the seller’s third-party responsibility agent.
Regrettably, a few individuals in the world enjoy preying on the innocent. Don’t give in to the pressure of a whisky dealer who tries to talk you into buying their product. That’s a warning sign, too.
2. Invest only what you can afford.
Your initial investment can be insignificant. Some bottles will do to get you started. Our standard recommendation for purchasing a barrel is around £10,000 (S$18,200). One barrel of whisky would cost at least that much, so it’s an excellent place to start.3
3. Try to find some old and rare wines.
Macallan is best if you are interested in bottle trading. A Macallan from a bygone era has always impressed. To this day, it remains the most popular name brand exchanged at auction. It will only do if it’s at least 18 years old, though. By “vintage,” we mean a wine made at least ten years ago, preferably much longer in the past.
Last but not least, we have a segment of silenced stills. Brora, Port Ellen, and Rosebank are the three defunct breweries reopening. However, they will not have matured whisky for at least ten to twenty years. An old container of liquor from one of those companies will cost you a pretty penny.