New Distillery Projects

The Ladybank Company of Distillers will be the first private club to have their own exclusive Single Malt Whisky distillery. The project is a farm diversification and will be situated near St Andrews. It will use only local barley from the surrounding, and much respected, malting barley fields of Fife. With final permissions now completed (November 2003), the distillery club has sold out their first membership allocation and the next 2 allocations will soon close. Each member gets an initial 120 bottles (12 bottles each year for the first 10 years) selected from 3 styles of malt whisky as well as full voting rights in the club which is limited to 1250 members . See www.whisky.co.uk Blackwood Distillers is moving ahead with their Shetland Islands site once final permission is approved in January 2004 Their strategy to help fund the distillery with their current white spirits business is going well with Blackwoods Gin, Vodka and Jago's Vodka Cream Liqueur now on the market in four countires. It will be the first and only distillery in the Shetland Isles and, along with confirmed local government grant support, and a well advanced private share offer, plans for Shetland's first Single Malt Whisky continue to progress well. Shareholders receive a whisky dividend and they also offer an advanced sales bond offer for 24 bottles, priced at UK 560 including duty, which is limited to a few thousand, and bond holders will be invited to the distillery opening. See www.shetlandwhisky.com At the newly refurbished distillery of Glengyle (closed since 1925) in Campbeltown, by March 2004 they plan to put aside the first six casks (each of a different wood type) of a Single malt, to be called Kilkerran, to mature until 10 years old. Enthusiasts can reserve one bottle from each cask - a total of 6 bottles - and as the company says "giving you the chance to own a piece of history in the making". Details of this offer are at www.kilkerran.com

There are considerable increases on some of the highly collectable bottlings. For example a limited release of 800 bottles of 18 Year Old 1973 Balvenie could be bought for £75 in 1991 and now commands around £500. The problem is how do you spot those likely to match, or even better, this type of increase amongst the dozens of current limited editions that many major brands release, and which often do not show any significant gain. Bruichladdich's Distillery Re-Opening 50cl Valinch bottling of 2001 (which was £50) now changes hands for around £400. Again worth the ferry trip to Islay that May! Other whiskies shoot up if stocks of highly regarded, but more regular (ie not limited special editions) bottlings run out. The 21 Year Old Springbank (above) was £55 only a few years ago and now changes hands for as much as £175. Now that would have been a worthwhile purchase if you bought 48 bottles and slowly stated selling them off over the next few years to enthusiasts for either collecting or drinking. With almost £ 6,000 in your pocket it could help finance a better malt whisky drinkers cellar, an investment collection or better still a mix of the two! As always its worth spreading the risk so here at scotchwhisky.com; we have prepared some mixed cases for investing and drinking so you can lay them down and then make that difficult decision 'should I drink or should I sell' in the months and years ahead. To enquire click here. Bruichladdich 20 year Old

Casks of bulk whisky appreciate as they age and, as an investment, carry a number of tax advantages. Casks are most commonly filled with around 240 litres of spirit. There does exist a somewhat select tradition of institutions and others holding often significant whisky stocks in cask, but it is important that casks are bought only at trade prices, that there is sound and knowledgeable advice throughout the holding period, and that the options for sale are clearly identified. The considerable worldwide growth of both Single Malt Whisky bottle sales (over the last 20 years), and the increasing marketing investment from the multi-national Single Malt Whisky brand owners, fuels a strong demand for stocks in this category. Meanwhile the availability of cask stocks of some distilleries varies from almost zero (ie from some of the closed distilleries) to almost impossible to source (many island malts). With a sound knowledge of the supply and demand at trade level, as well as the usual annual price increase per litre as each anniversary of the date of distillation is passed, those considering an investment in whisky should certainly, at the very least, understand what influences current bulk malt whisky prices. To request further information click here.