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| Wine & Spirits |
Spirited Portfolios
Richard Carleton Hacker
01/01/2004
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Although single malts did not achieve broad popularity in the United States until the 1970s, some vintage whiskies—primarily in Europe—have been hoarded for generations. Most of these earlier bottles remained unopened for emotional reasons (the vintage year, for instance, might be a child’s birth date) or simply awaited a special occasion that never arrived. Only when these pioneer whisky collectors began dying off did their dusty bottles begin surfacing.
| "We have a lot of collectors
who will buy two bottles of a rare whisky, one to drink and one to keep for investment." |
The first real auctions of vintage
single took place in the mid-1980s, with these bottles being tacked onto already-established wine auctions. But prices were encouraging enough to warrant further whisky auctions, most of which took place in the United Kingdom. Today, McTear’s Fine Art Auctioneers in Glasgow is one of the most productive hunting grounds for those sleuthing out rare or desirable single malts. The Internet also has become a lucrative resource for determining prices and availabilities. Well-stocked or well-connected malt whisky retail specialists such as The Whisky Exchange and Milroy’s in London, and Gordon & MacPhails in Elgin, Scotland, also reward collectors. In the United States, Park Avenue Liquors in New York, Sam’s Wine & Spirits in Chicago and Wine & Liquor Depot in Van Nuys, Calif., hold out the greatest promise to seekers of limited edition releases and older rarities.
"We have a lot of collectors who will buy two bottles of a rare whisky, one to drink and one to keep for investment," says Howard Meister, owner of Wine & Liquor Depot, which boasts a selection of more than 600 single malts, making it the largest retail source in the United States. "Some of our customers just never open the bottle. If you get the right thing at the right time, it’s better than the stock market."
But like stocks, knowing what and when to buy can be perplexing. Just as one becomes reconciled to the fees for a financial advisor, one should get advice on whiskies from reputable retail sources and simply regard the sometimes-higher prices as a broker’s commission. Nevertheless, some bargains can be found at European duty-free shops, frequent outlets for whiskies too limited in production for the mass market. Laphroaig 30 Year Old—a rarity in the United States—is often available at Heathrow. And while those desirous of an original bottle of 1930 The Macallan comb the catalogs and dealers, the more impatient can find the distillery’s recreation of that vintage in many duty-free stores; though the original bottle will always bear a heftier price, the replica may appreciate, percentagewise, just as well over the years. But one must be wary: Collectors eagerly snatched up the Aberlour a’bunadh—
a recreation of that distillery’s 19th-century cask-strength whisky initially available in duty-free stores—only to see the exclusivity diminish as its very popularity prompted importation to the United States.
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