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Forbes
17-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
5 Reasons Brora Whisky Is A Top Collector's Pick For 2025
Brora's remarkable resilience in a fluctuating market proves why quality and heritage outperform short-term can make mistakes. Please double-check responses. I've said it before and I'll say it again: there has never been a better time for the discerning whisky collector — unless, of course, you had a time machine to whisk yourself back to the 1990s, grab a case of Macallan 1926, and maybe pick up a couple of bottles of Black Bowmore for £90 while you're there. Science fiction aside, for the savvy collector, 2025 is a treasure trove of opportunities, and Brora sits right at the top of many collectors' lists. Back in 2003, you could pick up a bottle of the first Brora Special Releases 30 Year Old for £150. Today, that same bottle commands around £1,500 on the secondary market. While some might point out it was worth even more a couple of years ago, I'd argue that whisky, like most investments, isn't about making money every year — it's about the long game. So, amidst the doom, gloom, and misrepresentation of how "bad" things are, here are my five suggestions for making the most of the whisky market in 2025, with Brora as the perfect example. Globally in 2018 to 2020 we saw various factors that stimulated interest in alternative investments. In the secondary whisky market those years saw an influx of buyers simply following the crowds. Often they had little understanding of what truly makes a bottle collectable—as highlighted by the pinnacle $21,000 hammer price for a Folio 1 in March 2022, now worth c.$7,100—but it was working, so no one minded. Except the drinkers. In 2025 the financial situations of many have changed. The un-knowledgeable collectors that were in the whisky market to make quick and easy money have gone. This has left many bemoaning the end of the secondary whisky market. I've argued that cycles are all part of a maturing market. And as the market matures, so too does the need for better education on what defines a genuinely great whisky. By extension, that includes an understanding of what makes a sound investment. Brora's Special Releases series (released2003-2017) demonstrates the collection-building potential that continues to drive stable investment value despite market volatility. I have always advocated for education around whisky investment. Sure the odd flip of modern releases while the market is booming was fine, but if you want to build a whisky collection as a long term asset then you need to understand what's generating value with whisky. Then with that knowledge you can master the auction and retail landscapes, buying bottles whose potential you understand and trust. Then you've just got to add time—sorry. But for the education side I can help. Brora is a relatively risk free example to use. But as you'll see in my five points, it's still a sound choice in today's market. In 1983 the owners of Brora chose to close it. For Diageo (DCL at the time) the rich and complex whisky produced at Brora was surplus to requirements. Over the next 40 years however single malts from the highland distillery trickled into the market through independent bottlers and occasionally official releases as well. The Brora Distillery, Brora Scotland Crucially, these releases were largely limited edition special releases, but its closure also meant rarity remained high, while additionally it was still priced as a drinking whisky, which also drove scarcity. Brora slowly evolved into a cult icon in the whisky world, but the change didn't happen in a few months. It wasn't until 2018 Diageo announced they were reopening the iconic distillery, and while Brora had already positioned itself as a potential premium product in the market, this was a key moment for savvy collectors to note. After delays caused by the global covid-19 pandemic, in 2021 the new Brora distillery reopened to much excitement. Nothing moves quickly in whisky and we have to wait for new bottlings from Brora. However, Diageo retains a stock of mature whisky, which they used to mark the moment with the Brora Triptych. This incredible three bottle collection came in a case the size of a small table. I've seen a couple of these over the years and they really are striking and incredibly well made. The Brora Triptych showcases Diageo's luxury intent for the revived distillery, a key factor in the Highland malt's strong investment potential. The decision to launch with that kind of premium presentation is—I would argue—a clear mark of luxury Intent for the reborn brand. Looking for brands to invest in where the parent company is also investing into the brand is a great way to spot potential and take advantage of brand driven growth from that investment—just look at what's happened with Macallan over the last 30 years. One unifying factor for the success of early whisky collectors was with bottles that were critically acclaimed. It's something that I think has definitely been overlooked in the market over the last decade. But when you look at the rare, vintage, 'unicorn' bottles that stand above their peers in terms of value achieved, it is mostly those whiskies that were deemed the pinnacle of those expressions, with ratings into the mid-90s by industry renowned critics. The legendary 97-point Brora Rare Malts score from Serge at Whiskyfun remains a benchmark that drives this Highland distillery's exceptional investment potential. The quality of vintage Brora is undeniable, there are so many critically acclaimed reviews from vintage expressions that it's impossible to list them all. Arguably the pinnacle however has to be the legendary 97 point for a Brora Rare Malts given by Serge from Whiskyfun. There are other Brora of that age and series that are valuable, but for that particular release (distinguished by the ABV) the value has risen above the others because of the critical acclaim. Prior to 2003 Brora had been bottled officially by Diago but it was on a small scale as part of the Rare Malts brand. When the Brora Special Releases were introduced in 2003 it was the first time that a single malt had been bottled officially under the Brora brand. At £150 these releases were still expensive for a single malt whisky at the time, but Brora had already begun to position itself as a whisky worthy of a premium price tag thanks to the work of independent bottlers and Diageo's success with the Rare Malts Selection. The Brora Special Releases continued for 17 editions and their success were arguably part of the reason Diageo chose to reopen the distillery. This run of age statement releases is also a great feature for collectors, as it lends itself to building a themed collection through the series and isn't too expensive by the standards of some Brora. Despite market fluctuations, Joe Wilson of Whisky Auctioneer identifies Brora Special Releases as "the best avenue for new collectors" in an increasingly premium market. Joe Wilson, Head Curator & Spirits Specialist at Whisky Auctioneer, explained to me over email: 'While the value of these bottles is now considerably higher, they still represent one of the best avenues for new collectors to enter the market for Brora. Considering the ultra-prestige style of releases currently favoured by Diageo for Brora single malt and the still lengthy wait for its newly produced stock to mature, this is likely to be the case for a long time to come.' The final point in my list does require a little more commitment. Look at wherever you get your data—and if you don't, then perhaps try Spirits Invest or Whisky Hunter—and look at how bottles are performing compared to the overall market indexes. It can be easy to get caught up in overall market indexes, but while these can be useful as an overview, they are of limited use for making bottle level investments—unless you plan to buy every bottle in the index, of course! When you look at the index for the performance of the Brora Annual Releases by itself you see a similar shape to overall indexes. However, if you compare it directly against indexes like the MLL Index—and even more starkly with the Folio Index—you will notice that while the peaks weren't quite so high, neither are the troughs. The Brora Annual Release Index (grey) vs The Mark Littler 999 Index (gold) So yes, in 2022 the Brora might have looked a bit boring compared to the trajectory of Folio 1, but now we can see that the factors underpinning the value of the Brora give a much more robust basis for buying a long term alternative asset. While hindsight is always 20:20, the important part is to learn from mistakes, whether yours or the market's, in order to make better decisions in the future. That, of course, is the same as with any investment. Ultimately, you can understand everything there is to know, read all the guidance out there on what to buy and why, but at some point you have to look at a bottle and how it has done over the last 10…20 + years and decide if that's the right purchase for you. I've used Brora as an example because it ticks all the boxes in my opinion: age statements, quality, heritage, parent company intent and market history, but hopefully the context around the information also gives you a little bit more understanding on how to look at the market and select your own Brora.
Telegraph
29-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Buy junk bonds, lean hogs or soybeans
Sign up to the weekly Investor Newsletter for exclusive analysis and content. Do you actually know anything about whisky? Sure, you might know Laphroaig is that peaty one, whether or not to include an 'e' and what the barrel economy is. Maybe you've heard of the angels' share and know why you can't find a 39pc whisky. You might know why Macallan 1926 is an important bottle or how to pronounce 'quaich'. But are you aware of what the reform of WOWGR means for you? Can you explain the difference between OLA and RLA and whether AYS would affect that? Or know how many times VAT is due from the time you purchase a cask to it landing in your glass? However tempting that advert on Facebook offering returns of 18pc a year and a chart showing that whisky outperforms gold and every stock market, let this be your pause for thought. The chances that you are in any position to invest in whisky are, for all intents and purposes, zero. Disregarding the potential for it to be outright fraud, even the most scrupulous and legitimate proposal should be ringing very loud alarm bells for an investor. For a start, the whisky cask investment world is entirely unregulated. There are no protections offered by the Financial Conduct Authority, and you have no recourse with either the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Even the advertising of these schemes is so misleading that the Advertising Standards Authority issued a widespread enforcement notice against the concept of it. The City of London Police was compelled to press release a warning – not for the potential fraud, but simply the deceptive marketing. Nobody seems to have paid much attention to this though, with whisky cask websites still strewn with promises that your cask will increase in value and assertions they outperform markets. There are cherry-picked charts showing the performance of a backdated whisky 'index' to seemingly random points in time, a move that would get a regulated fund manager in real trouble. But let's say you've done all of your research, found one of the genuine brokers offering legitimate and transparent investment in whisky casks, of which there are a few, and are keen to plough your cash into casks. Have you actually considered the investment proposition at hand? This could not be a less diversified investment. Even buying a single stock or one particular gilt is a better spread of risk thousands of times over. Hell, a share in a tiny whisky producer is significantly more diversified. That one share represents a slice of every single cask they own, all of the distribution networks they have established, the legacy and power of that producer's name, bottling, labelling and manufacturing costs, all taxes, debts and earnings accounted for. That investment represents thousands of whisky casks, so when a few of them inevitably succumb to rotting or tasting foul or not meeting the legal definition of whisky, your eggs aren't all in that singular cask. Let's say by some miraculous coincidence you do manage to pick a particular cask that winds up worth 10,000pc more than you paid for it. How long do you think you have to wait for that ship to come in? Most of the websites suggest that a cask should be considered an investment of at least 10 years. But you know in your heart you wouldn't be impressed if somebody gave you a 10-year-old whisky for your retirement gift, would you? We're talking decades to have your money locked up in a dream that could become a nightmare at a moment's notice. Fine, you've done your research, considered the proposition in full and you're comfortable with staking your capital for decades at the risk of losing it all. Before you commit, here's a potted selection of every other investment you should consider before venturing into the deep space of this most distant of satellite holdings. Global index funds, US index funds, UK index funds, European index funds, emerging market index funds, actively managed funds of each of the above, actively managed funds targeting financial sectors, tech sectors, consumer sectors, individual stocks, bonds, gilts, Treasuries, junk bonds. Buy a house, buy a second house, buy a holiday let. Have you maxed out your Isa? Have you maxed out your premium bonds? Buy some VCTs, some EIS, some SEIS. Invest in Aim stocks, and buy some private equity. Do you own gold? Silver? Uranium, copper, platinum? Do you have a position in lean hogs, soybeans and wheat? Carbon credits, oil, gas, wind farms, solar farms, regular farms. Have you considered wine? If the answer to any of the above is no, then, like me, scam or not, you shouldn't be investing in whisky.
