How to invest in whisky

Is it still a good idea to invest in whisky now that whisky prices have increased so much over the past decade?

Barrels of liquid gold - how to invest in whisky
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Hand a whisky-lover a time machine and they might well set the dials for 1993, when Oddbins began selling an Islay single malt matured for 29 years in sherry casks. The price of Black Bowmore – £110 a bottle – was considered pretty steep at the time, but not now. 

No longer is whisky collecting a niche hobby purely pursued by earnest enthusiasts. Buoyed by a series of headline-grabbing sales – culminating in the £2.2m paid at Sotheby’s in November last year for a bottle of The Macallan 1926 Valerio Adami edition – we now live in a world of exclusive whisky auctions, investment funds and new releases with five-figure price tags. 

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Richard Woodard is a freelance wine and spirits writer based in the UK. Aside from Decanter, he writes for several wine trade and media outlets including Imbibe, The Drinks Business, Harpers and Drinks International.

Since 2015 he has been the magazine editor of Scotchwhisky.com. He has formerly worked as a wine news reporter at Imbibe and a feature writer for Halycon Magazine.