I know someone who is making a decent living the last 18 months dealing, full time, in whiskey. He does not like the taste of the stuff at all, which is probably a major help.
Certain Irish bottles have enjoyed 30-40% appreciation a year over the last three to four years. As before mentioned, a bottle of Redbreast Dream Cask cost €500 to buy a few weeks ago and is now reputedly worth €1500-2000. But I think you needed to get into this party two years ago or so.
That said, there are a lot of new distilleries afoot. The Waterford one looks by far the most interesting but there are others with promise. What remains to be seen is if these distilleries go down the road of limited releases as per Dingle. The various Dingle limited bottlings seem to have appreciated at least 100% and some of them well above that mark.
As likewise before mentioned, anyone wanting to get into whiskey investment needs to cultivate friends in the off license and drinks trade. The desirable bottles are being snapped by branch managers and so forth. They are often looking for an immediate 50-100% flip.
The various named Irish whiskey sets — Bluebell Forest, Celtic Cask, Dair Ghaelach, Method and Madness, Midleton Pearl, Midleton Single Casks, Midleton Very Rare, Powers Single Casks, Redbreast Single Casks, Teeling Centenary, and so forth — are all doing well to very well. So is old Irish whiskey. Belfast’s The Friend At Hand has a quite incredible collection in this area.
Although there will always be a demand for quality whiskey that had a quite limited outturn, this market is nsturally tied to general economic circumstances. Another factor is glitzy hotels wanting to buy top end whiskey at top end prices. JP McManus’ place is willing to pay c €15000 for a bottle of Midleton Pearl because it can charge €1200 a shot, which becomes €21000 profit in time. Like I said, hardly anyone appears to understand the oxidation factor in whiskey quality.
If you get into whiskey investment, I am quite happy to advise you for the occasional liquid fee…