Rare Scotch whisky demand breaks the 100k barrier

Rare Whisky 101 co-founders Andy Simpson and David Robertson have released their much anticipated full year report for 2018, revealing that the UK’s whisky auction market has exceeded 100,000 bottles sold for the 1st time in a single year.

Rare Whisky 101 operates as whisky analysts, broker and investment experts. Their full year report for 2018 shows an increase in demand for rare single malt scotch whiskies, with volumes up by 28.8% (to over 100k bottles sold in a year) and value up by a staggering 62.7% (to over £40m)!

The average value per bottle has also increased to £377.91, from £299.36 in 2017.

The full 2018 Rare Whisky 101 Report, with lots of information, data and insights including predictions for 2019, click here to access the report.

“While demand for rare and vintage whisky shows no signs of slowing, the fundamentals of investing in the rare whisky market remains strong. The UK auction market remains the biggest and most active market worldwide, and there’s nothing to suggest that will change. As consumption continues to increase, driven by connoisseurs, collectors and investors, the stocks of rare whisky will continue to diminish, creating the ideal conditions for escalating hammer prices.” David Robertson, Rare Whisky 101

The Macallan brand continues to dominate the secondary market with a volume share of almost 14% and a value share of almost 38%.

“Unless there’s a ban on selling Macallan at auction, there’s zero chance they can be knocked off the number one position. They are the number one traded distillery and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.” Rare Whisky 101

The increase in value share for the brand was in no doubt helped by the sale of the 1926 Macallan with hand-painted bottle by Michael Dillon – the first £1 million whisky bottle (Picture below – source: Christie’s Images).

For reference, previous Inside the Cask blog posts with input from Rare Whisky 101:

• ‘Scotch Whisky = Liquid Gold?’ (using data from H1 2017 Report)
• ‘Rare Whisky Report and 1st Collectors/ Investors Survey 2017’ (using data from Full Year 2017 Report)
• ‘As good as gold….Scotch whisky!’ (using data from H1 2018 Report)