Investing In Exclusive Whisky?

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I’ll start with a caveat;

I don’t think there’s life changing amounts of cash to be made from investing in whisky. If there is, I don’t know how it’s done.

So you might well be thinking ‘why are you investing in something that makes no money, mate?’. Good question. I guess I don’t really mean ‘investing‘ per se, what I mean is buying whisky with no immediate intention of drinking it. Or more specifically, buying rare and / or unusual whisky with no immediate intention of drinking it.

The more attention you pay to the whisky market, the more apparent it becomes that there are some highly sort after whiskies. These are usually where only a small amount of that particular release is produced – an expression that the distilleries don’t often make and they release as a one off, or infrequently.

Some examples perhaps:

Laphroaig 10 is a stalwart of supermarkets and bars, whisky people probably also rate the Laphroaig 18 which is readily available for about £80. What’s harder to find is the love child of the two, Laphroaig 15. You won’t find it in Sainsbury’s and you’ll struggle to find stock on most whisky sites. There’s a 200th anniversary release celebrating Laphoraig’s birthday that is especially hard to find – a one-off for a special event.

You may be au fait with Lagavulin’s excellent 16 year old. You’re probably less familiar with the younger sibling, Lagavulin 12. The Islay maestros produce this annually (and at cask strength) as part of Diageo’s special edition range – an annual treat.

You may also be aware of Johnnie Walker’s Blue label. A flagship offering in the JW range, it wears no age statement but sits a rung up from Platinum (18 years) and proclaims to blend some of the world’s rarest whiskies. Naturally the master blenders in the labs at JW don’t mess about with the recipe. What they do do however is release special edition bottles. A quick squint at The Whisky Exchange (my whisky retailer of choice) will show you bottles commemorating the Ryder Cup, a Porsche special edition, and my personal favourite Edinburgh and London special editions where the respective city’s landmarks are etched into the bottle – special edition packaging.

Irrespective of the reason or the type of the exclusivity, these are just some of the examples of highly desirable whiskies. ‘Investing’ in these when they come available probably won’t pay off your mortgage, but it will give you some excellent options:

They will increase in value. Flick through the price of the Lagavulin 12’s from the last few years and notice they cost steadily more and more money – so you could sell them for a profit at some point in the future.

You could open them and enjoy them. That is, after all, the reason whisky is made. Often these special releases will be something different from the norm and be a unique take on some of the world’s most popular whiskies.

Ultimately, it’s a win-win, you can enjoy the collectibility of the bottlings, and worst case scenario, if it makes you no dosh, you’ll have a great whisky, open it on a special occasion, or give an amazing gift. Cheers.