One could imagine that the vertiginous rise in interest rates, geopolitical uncertainties and the multiplication of bankruptcies on the financial planet – such as the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency platform – would calm the ardor of investors in search of returns always higher. Far from it: rather than drop the case, some have turned to so-called “alternative” and sometimes surprising assets. Like whiskey.
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In a report published on November 28 on the subject, the very serious Scottish investment bank Noble & Co points out that, since January, the market for the rarest single malts and pure malts has jumped 23% in volume and 21% in value. “Stock markets in Asia have fallen dramatically, with major losses in technology and cryptocurrencies, the price of gold has fallen, collector watches are having a difficult second half… Prestige whiskey, on the other hand, is outperforming all these assets “lists the report, which reviewed 580,000 auctions of alcohol made in Scotland, on tap or in bottles.
The latter is increasingly prized by collectors – but also by those who, cooled by the turbulence of the stock market, turn to concrete investments. “This is particularly the case for many millennials, who now consider traditional financial investments as a great risk”note the authors.
Counterfeits and scams
As proof, the segment of bottles sold between 100 and 1,000 pounds sterling (between 115.8 and 1,158 euros), favored by those under 35, is the one that has grown the most (+ 30% in value since the beginning of January). ). Mostly the non-fungible tokens (NFT, non-fungible tokens, in French), these digital property certificates inscribed in blockchain, a technology for storing and transmitting information based on cryptography, also thrive on the precious Scottish brandy – and are often popular with younger investors. A market in which speculative excesses are multiplying, warns the bank. In May, an NFT on a bottle of Johnnie Walker, 48 years old, sold for 35,642 dollars (34,443 euros).
For ten years, Scottish distilleries – but also Japanese – have been multiplying so-called premium bottles, in limited editions. And their prices skyrocket, especially at auctions. According to the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index, a reputable index that tracks luxury investments, whiskey has appreciated 428%, among investments considered high-end collections, between 2011 and 2021. is more than luxury cars (164%). In 2019, in London, a bottle of Macallan 1926 was sold for 1.45 million pounds sterling, or nearly 1.7 million euros, by the Sotheby’s auction house.
The risks are not zero, however: the high volatility of NFTs can leave those who bet big on them on the straw, while counterfeits and scams of all kinds are multiplying. In June, the FBI arrested Casey Alexander, a Briton, for an alleged fraud of 10 million pounds sterling. He had convinced 150 American pensioners to invest in high-end whiskey which he claimed to keep in warehouses in the United Kingdom. But neither of them received the promised money, nor a drop of the 2017 Craigellachie he had baited them with…