In 1494, in the kingdom of Fife—the ancient seat of Scottish kings—James IV sent an order to his preferred apothecary, Friar John Cor.
It read: “To Brother John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae VIII bolls of malt”.
In modern parlance, his majesty had just placed an order for 800 gallons of whisky. Quite the round of drinks.
That order lies on the history books as the earliest record for the production of Scotch Whisky.
Today, Scotland is home to over 150 malt and grain distilleries making it the biggest producer of whisky in the world. And supply can scarcely keep up with demand—according to the latest figures, 43 bottles of Scotch whisky are exported from the U.K. every second.
That equates to 1.35 billion bottles worth 5.6 billion pounds. By value, the U.S. was the largest export destination—ordering in 978 million pounds’ worth of Scotch. Enough to give even Babe Ruth a headache.
And of course, the Scots are no fools, they keep well-stocked on home turf too.
This past new year—Hogmanay in Scotland—a group staying at the 19th century, five-star Fife Arms in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, opted to indulge in some of their lodgings’ top-shelf offerings.
The group of 15 sipped some 100 drams over the course of the evening including Glenlivet 1943, a single malt Scotch distilled during World War II, at 850 pounds ($1,046) a glass; Hazelwood, a vintage blended at birth Scotch whisky priced at 950 pounds ($1,170) a glass; and a 50-year-old Glen Grant at 1,500 ($1,847) a glass.
All up, the total tab came to 158,914 pounds ($195,841) excluding tip.
While images of the bill have hit the headlines, the hotel has remained tight-lipped about the identities of the high-rollers but whisky has long been the favored tipple of rockstars, royalty, Hollywood icons, cowboys, and crooners.
Money flow to this liquid gold… and from it, too.
The demand for Scotch has grown exponentially in recent years. Today’s global Scotch whisky market is worth $34.7 billion… and is projected to break $57 billion by 2032.
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As regular readers will know, I’m a fan of hard assets, and whisky qualifies, making it a hedge against inflation.
That’s why investing in Scotch whisky today, an asset that steadily and consistently appreciates over time, is better than investing in Scotch tomorrow. A single malt Scotch that starts aging today will be worth on average 10% more than that same single malt that starts aging next year.
I’m also a fan of whisky. It’s a passion asset that, for the past decade, has outclassed all other luxury-class investments by a wide margin—at least 134%.
So, when friends in Glasgow, Scotland—aficionados with long-standing relationships with cask providers and whisky distillers—told me about an opportunity with their small operation focused on taste and quality, of course, it got my attention.
They don’t usually open their shop to outsiders, but they’ve agreed to make a current stock of whisky available for private investment. You’d be purchasing the whisky in Tawny Port and Cabernet Sauvignon casks that they’ll store for you in their bonded warehouse.
You own the casks, but they take care of all aspects of the distillation. Then you can sell your casks after your whisky has aged a minimum of three to five years. The exit strategy is in place.
Again, this is a special private opportunity of very limited supply.
Stay diversified,
Lief Simon
Editor, Offshore Living Letter