Whisky casks are continuing to outperform more traditional investment and alternative investment options including gold, according to the latest market report issued by investment experts Braeburn Whisky.
Braeburn Whisky specializes in the sale of investment-grade whisky casks to investors around the world.
“The 2022 Whisky Cask Market Report, which brings transparency to the alternative investment market in the form of Braeburn’s unique BC20 Whisky Cask Index, observed average projected growth for whisky casks of 14.95% – a rise of just under 1.7% from 2021 …” said Braeburn.
“Meanwhile the value of the BC20 Index, which analyses data of cask valuations by region using a specially created algorithm that allows it to predict how a specific cask of single malt will appreciate on an annual basis, grew by 15.86% last year.”
The report named the best performing Scotch Whisky cask distillery in 2022 as Laphroaig, with projected growth of 18.75%, with Bunnahabhain’s Staoisha second at 17.74% and Bunnahabhain itself a close third at 17.57%.
The distillery outside of Islay with the biggest growth was Highland Park at 17%, while all the distilleries listed in the report’s top 20 showed consistent growth in 2022.
Braeburn Whisky CEO Niall Brown said: “Our report shows, despite a year in which inflation has rocketed and global markets suffered instability due to the ongoing issues with COVID and the Ukraine conflict, the overall performance of the cask investment market remains in rude health.”
Braeburn’s BC20 Index is based around a data-modelling algorithm, which provides “a specific and transparent way of using data to quantify cask investment returns as well as compare casks with other investments.”
Brown said the report’s Average Annual Capital Growth Rate was based on data points from the sales of more than 6,000 casks across over 80 distilleries, providing the largest data sample available of the cask investment market to date.
Brown added: “While gold dropped and markets generally finished around the same mark as the year before, the value of the BC20 index rose by double digits. It shows more investors are turning to Scotch Whisky as a means of not only growing but also protecting wealth in these times of high inflation and market instability.
“But as this interest grows, so does the need for reliable and transparent data that provides real insight into this expanding market. That is why our report, our BC20 Index, and the algorithm behind it, are vital and reliable methods of measuring year by year the fluctuations, intricacies and changing trends in a market that is ripe for opportunity.
“Not only that, it brings a real analysis of what for many is an investment from the heart. Millions of people love whisky, and the history that surrounds Scotland’s national drink. They are drawn by the romance of owning a cask from distilleries known the world over, watching their investment mature, just as the whisky does as it interacts with the wood of the cask.
“Our report once again shows how Scotch Whisky is providing a really effective way for investors to diversify their portfolios towards safer ground, hedging against the inflation and uncertainty that are currently affecting global markets.”