Whisky Collecting/club/barrel ownership

[Quattromaster]

My brother is 50 in a few weeks time and I'm faced/struggling with choosing him a decent present that he will enjoy.

Not interested in the usual car days out, or flying in a Spitfire or zip wiring off a cliff.

He is partial to a wee glass or two of whisky, so, was thinking something to do with that.

Now he's not getting a full barrel, I love him, but not that much, but can spend up to £1000.

So, anybody any experience with this, are there set ups where you can buy shares in a barrel, or even gift vouchers so he can research and choose what he wants to do, am I wasting my time with only £1000 to play with.

Anything really to do with whisky, and that would make for a nice 50th birthday present.

Help.

[Quattromaster]

Well, Im Shocked no replies, I kind of presumed all you fellow powerfully built director types would have had a couple of 30k barrels of whiskey in the cellar.

Think I may need to try and think of something else.

[Shaw Tarse]

Maybe ask here https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[robscot]

Bits of barrels often rely on others, and talking a decade really before something that is alright... perhaps.

For me, find out what type of whisky he drinks (brand/style etc) and look to go large on a bottle and tell him it is for drinking and not keeping?

500-1000 will get some decent stuff, and depending how Powerfully Built he is, he may not ever buy let alone drink.

[jonesey]

You are correct, it is tricky to buy into barrel shares. I organised a small syndicate a few years ago and finding the right people is tough in as much as you need to trust they will be around to pay bottling/duty etc in 10+ years time and also have the same pallette as you.

Personally, I’d go big on a single bottle that could retain value or be drank for a very special reason.

[moorx]

Can you get whisky tasting/distillery tours?

[w1bbles]

I ran a cask ownership syndicate for about 15 years with a group of friends (I ran it; we all bought in and enjoyed the proceeds). We bought, stored and bottled 8 casks. The model changed according to supply, including:

- buying a cask from a broker (Craigton Packaging) and having it bottled (Bowmore)
- buying casks from distilleries and storing and bottling them ourselves (Arran x 2, Bladnoch, Bruichladdich x 2)
- buying casks and letting the distillery do the heavy lifting (Glengoyne)
- buying casks and sitting on them (Isle of Harris)

It was hard work with huge amounts of paperwork so we drew stumps a few years ago. It was great fun and we got exceptional value from the syndicate so I wouldn't rule out doing it again.

If you want to buy a mature cask, try https://www.whiskybroker.co.uk. They're really friendly and don't have the restrictions that distilleries place on you as a cask owner - negotiating what you can/can't put on a label is a bit of a pain.

My main takeaways are:

1. Be prepared for lots of admin
2. Be clear on your expectations. I was lucky enough to have an industry-recognised name in my friend group so when we needed to push back on the quality of the product she weighed in and the distilleries sort of listened. Glengoyne didn't, but Arran did. And as a result re-casked a mediocre Arran whisky so that we ended up with a great one. I'm a big fan of Arran as a result - Glengoyne, not so much. Bruichalddich were a hoot to deal with but I think that the people have changed since I dealt with them.

Hope that helps.

[Ash_]

I've been contacted by these guys in the past, not really my thing so haven't looked in to it, but may be what you're after.

https://whiskeywealthclub.com/about/