NEWS
VALUE OF RARE WHISKIES SURGED 582% IN PAST DECADE, THANKS TO DEMANDS IN ASIA
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
6-3-2019
Rare whisky is the most lucrative investment in the past decade with value surging 582%, partially driven by demands in Asia, according to the 2019 Wealth Report published by property consultancy Knight Frank.
Over the past year, the category delivers a 40% return, topping the luxury investment chart, well ahead of the 12% achieved by the coins category in second place.
Editor of 2019 Wealth Report Andrew Shirley said: “The stunning price growth of rare single malt whiskies shows that the appetite for new ‘alternative’ asset classes remains strong among high-net-worth investors. However, we are seeing growth soften for some of the other asset classes…like classic cars that had been performing exceptionally strongly.”
Knight Frank highlighted the strength of the Asian market for rare whisky. “This incredible rise in values has been partially driven by the Asian market, as sales of Scotch whisky to India, China and Singapore rose by 44%, 35% and 24% respectively (year-on-year) in the first half of 2018 according to the Scotch Whisky Association, with single malts totalling almost 30% of total exports.”
The 2019 Wealth Report ranks the returns from various classes of luxury assets over the 12 months to the fourth quarter of 2018.
This is the first time rare whisky has been included as one of the asset classes. The category’s value is reflected in the Knight Frank Rare Whisky 100 index which comprises 100 bottles of the world’s “most desirable rare Scotch whisky”. The index tracks actual UK auction prices for these bottles, and shows these values have increased by 582% overall during the past decade.
The report highlighted the sale of a bottle of Macallan 1926 60-Year-Old in a London auction in November last year for a record breaking £1.2m (USD1.5m).
The overall 12-month return of all the asset classes in the chart was 9%. Coins have achieved price growth of 12% annually and 193% over the last decade.
Wine and art both showed price growth of 9% over the year and delivered returns of 147% and 158% during the last decade.
Classic cars have delivered a 258% return over the last decade but achieved a return of only 2% in the 12 months to the fourth quarter of last year.
(the writer can be contacted at: SLawMathews@thewinechronicle.com)
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