City high flyers turn to whisky as investment

City high flyers are turning to Scotch whisky as an investment with interest rates at rock bottom and established markets appearing frothy, a cask broker said.

VCL Vintners said sales in January rose 300% from a year earlier and new account openings soared by more than 700%. The company said 94% of new enquiries were from people who had not invested in whisky before.

Investors in Scotch are getting younger with more than half of casks sold in the past three months to people aged 18 to 44, the London-based broker said. Casks starting at £5,000 are selling well but the main activity is in casks priced at £10,000 to £30,000, VCL said.

Stuart Thom, a director at VCL, said: “We’re seeing a lot of City interest at the moment from investment bankers and brokers looking to cornerstone their portfolios with whisky for the capital appreciation. With the markets going sideways for now and a tech bubble being rumoured in the States, whisky is being seen more and more as a stable long-term investment.”

VCL said whisky had outperformed coloured diamonds, art, wine, watches and stamps to be the top performing alternative asset over the past decade with 540% gains. Casks are rising in value by 20% to 40% and 58% of buyers are dispassionate investors, Thom said.

“Our clients are getting younger, put off by cash saving rates at the banks and unsure with stocks, shares or digital coins,” Thom said.