It may be wiser to invest in whisky than drink it!

As the autumn days approach, whiskey lovers turn to a dram to soften the onset of colder evenings and longer nights. But it’s not just those who enjoy a drink that enjoy whisky; collectors also reap the benefits.

The value of the top 50 whiskeys has risen 20 percent in the past year alone – and 152 percent in the past five years, according to index tracker LiveTrade.

A 30-year-old Port Ellen is now worth £1,950 a bottle – 259 percent more than five years ago. A 30-year-old Balvenie has risen in value by 85 per cent in two years to £1,800 a bottle. The best ones sell for tasty sums. Next month, a bottle of 1926 Macallan goes under the hammer at Sotheby’s – worth £1.2 million.

This Scottish single malt rarity is one of only 40 bottled from one batch and features an illustration by artist Valerio Adami on the label.

Jonny Fowle, head of spirits at Sotheby’s, said: ‘This bottle represents the oldest Macallan vintage ever produced. After six decades of maturing in sherry casks, this whiskey was bottled in 1986. The bottles are not made for purchase, but offered to top customers.

‘Of the forty labels produced, one is hand-painted by Irish artist Michael Dillion, a further twelve feature images by pop artist Sir Peter Blake, and a further dozen labels are designed by Italian painter Valerio Adami.’

The good news is that you don’t need $1.2 million to invest – you can start with a few hundred dollars. But there is no guarantee that you will make a profit. Many people invest for the pleasure of learning more about whiskey and being able to open a bottle on a special occasion. As with all alternative investments, these should only make up a small portion of your portfolio.

Even if you already love whiskey, figuring out how to start investing can seem difficult. But Ewan Thomson, a whiskey expert at specialist spirits auction house McTear’s Auctioneers in Glasgow, believes this is not necessary; it can even be a great pleasure.

“My advice is to start with the whiskey you like best and develop enthusiasm for the drink that way,” he says. ‘You can visit distilleries and attend tastings to learn more, and buy bottles from auction houses. You don’t have to spend a fortune. Start with a modest budget of a few hundred pounds. Start as an enthusiast who wants to learn.’

Blended whiskey accounts for around 90 percent of all whiskey consumed – and while it is a delicious dram, it should not be purchased as an investment. For an investment you need single malt, where the whiskey comes from a single distillery. Investment grade whiskey typically must have been aged in a barrel for at least a few decades. Irish whiskey can also be a good investment.

Macallan is very popular among investors, but there are plenty of other highly regarded distilleries to consider. They include Ardbeg, Balblair, Balvenie, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Dalmore, Glendronach, Glenfarclas, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Glenugie, Highland Park, Kilchoman, Laphroaig, Lochside, Springbank and Talisker.

There is also demand for spirits from distilleries that closed in the 1980s and 1990s, even though many have reopened or will reopen soon. These include Brora (before it reopened in 2021), Dallas Dhu (which is about to reopen), Glen Flagler, Port Ellen (which reopened this year) and Rosebank (which reopened earlier this year). There is a demand for investment in the whiskey before the distillery closes as supply decreases every time a bottle is opened on a cold night.

Thomson says whiskey bottled in the 1980s and 1990s can be a good starting point – when there were more small distilleries and fewer mass-produced bottles. One of his favorites is Springbank, based in Campbeltown on the Kintyre Peninsula. You can buy a 15 year old single malt Springbank bottled in the 1990s for £1,000. Fowle adds that a wave of investors are looking to source whiskeys from Islay in the Inner Hebrides, such as Bowmore and Port Ellen.

“But I also see people trying to find whiskeys with as little wood influence as possible – pale whiskeys like a Laphroaig Samaroli 1970,” he says. ‘Glendronach offers some of the best priced high quality sherry whiskies, Kilchoman offers some of the best value for money when it comes to peat smoke flavour.’

A 26-year-old 1993 Glendronach might cost £550, while a 1970 Laphroaig Samaroli costs £8,000. An 11-year-old Kilchoman Oloroso – the distillery only opened in 2005 – retails for £300.

Stiff drink: A rare Macallan will fetch £1.2 million next month

The age of a whiskey is the time it has been in a barrel before being bottled. Once bottled, unlike wines, they can be stored indefinitely without spoiling, provided they are stored upright in a cool, dark place. A 12-year-old who has been set aside for a century will remain the same age as a recent 12-year-old – and may taste much the same.

Whiskey sales are conducted by auctioneers including Sotheby’s, McTear’s, Bonhams, Scotch Whiskey Auctions and Whiskey Auctioneer.

Although auctioneers can typically charge a 24 percent fee on top of the hammer price, buyers have protection against purchasing whiskey with a false provenance.

Be careful about buying blindly on websites such as eBay as the whiskey trade is an unregulated market and not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Five years ago, a study by the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center in East Kilbride found that almost a third of whiskeys tested were counterfeit.

The Rare Whiskey 101 website details what’s happening in the market, with details of individual distilleries. The LiveTrade website also provides an index of the performance of individual whiskeys in recent years.

Matthew O’Connell, managing director of LiveTrade, said: ‘Whiskey is a fascinating market, requiring distilleries to look two to three decades ahead – when some of their best drinks may already have been consumed.

‘The 1970s to 1990s – when many of the whiskeys we drink today were produced – are a time when distilleries struggled or had to close. This increases the value of the limited number of survivors.

‘The European and Asian market for investment-grade whiskey is still growing – and we don’t see this slowing down anytime soon.’

Although the vast majority of investors buy their whiskey in bottles, it can also be purchased in barrels and stored in a bonded warehouse. If it is tied up in bonds, investors can avoid having to pay import duties or VAT if it is later sold back to the producer. But novice investors are advised to start with bottles and gain some trading experience before considering barrels.