The World of Hospitality Issue 15 2016 | Page 16

16 the World Of Hospitality rare whisky 101 Rare Whisky Outperforms Gold, Wine And Equities In Stellar Year The market for rare whisky in 2015 significantly outperformed many other well established asset classes, including wine and gold, according to figures published today by whisky analyst, broker and investment experts Rare Whisky 101. In a record year for the rare whisky market, the leading index for Scotch whisky, the Rare Whisky Apex 1000 Index closed 2015 up 14%, outperforming Wine (LivEx -0.42%), Gold (-10.44%), and many of the world’s leading equity indices (FTSE 100 -4.93%, NASDAQ 100 +9.75%, S&P 500 +0.7%, Shanghai Composite +9.4%). Volume and value growth Land of the setting sun? The total value of rare whisky bottles sold at auction in the UK in 2015 hit record levels of £9.56M, exceeding 2014 (£7.64m) by 25%. Over twelve months, 43,458 bottles of single malt Scotch whisky were sold in the UK on the open market, an increase of 9460 bottles and a 28% increase on 2014. As an indication of the speed with which this new asset class has emerged, 2009 saw just 4,072 bottles sold throughout the entire year. Early 2015 saw a staggering rise in the values for Japanese whisky, with the Rare Whisky Karuzaiwa Index increasing nearly 75% in just nine months – a rise never witnessed previously by any whisky. Bottles which originally sold for £350 twelve months ago were achieving more than £3,000 on the secondary market. However, the last three months of the year a dip of 6% reflecting a pricing correction which is set to continue into 2016.