Investing in whisky

"Unique spirits, bottled one cask at a time"

This is our mission and what we work towards on a daily basis. At heart, The Single Cask is an independent bottler, but as we’ve discussed previously the actual bottling is only half the story. A lot of work is involved in finding the right casks in the first place, which is where our story really began and still keeps us busy to this day (in fact it always will, what with our determination to find and bottle the world’s greatest whisky along with our simultaneous belief that no such cask actually exists…)

On a regular basis we speak to people who would love to have a maturing cask of Scotch whisky to call their own, and indeed on this very website we offer to help people do just that.

The reality of actually owning maturing spirit held under bond is unfortunately rather complicated, so we thought we’d explain the process a little more here.

The idea of having a personal cask of whisky is, as previously mentioned, pretty much how The Single Cask began. Our director, Ben, was a distributor for a number of Scotch whisky brands in Asia several years ago and acted as a cask broker suppling other independent bottlers and blenders at the same time. Every now and then he’d come across a whisky he liked so much he’d be reluctant to part with it, sure enough leading to the opening of the first Single Cask bar in Singapore, the rest being history.

There are more casks waiting in the wings than ever, ready to be shared around the world. Years ago it was only a handful, but still too much for Ben to keep to himself; it was his wife who one day put to him the sobering question, "what are you actually going to do with all that whisky?". After all, a typical hogshead cask can yield over two hundred bottles, which is surely more than enough for even the most die-hard enthusiast; if you’re anything like us, you’d be keen to try something a little different long before you reached that 200th bottle.

Aside from the issue of sheer quantity, one must also consider storage space, excise duty, customs checks and having the appropriate paperwork, and so on…

There’s a reason smuggling was so prevalent all those years ago - not that we condone that sort of thing, of course…

Fortunately, there is an easier way, which is to work with us in finding the next great cask, investing for the future and enjoying a few bottles along the way. Our team are able to monitor each cask over the course of its maturation, accounting for things such as evaporation, varying units of measurement and cask type, as well as ensure the appropriate insurance, licences and duty considerations are in place.

We love sharing great whiskey, whether it’s one bottle at a time or whole casks. Working with whisky investors, we’ve rescued some amazing casks of whisky over the years, keeping them safe from blending, chill filtration and so on, before finally deciding to bottle them and reap the rewards. Not only does the whisky improve significantly over the years, it also becomes worth substantially more, so it’s the perfect form of investment for anyone who loves a special dram; the initial investment can yield a totally unique whisky, or a strong financial return – or indeed a bit of both!

So if you’ve ever wanted to have a little corner of the Scotch whisky world to call your own, get in touch and join us in the search for the next unique spirit.