Whisky Consultancy

As we have been close to Scotch whisky for twenty five years, we feel we can offer you excellent professional advice on the buying of bottles, rare and otherwise, cask selection, cask consultancy and whisky investment. In the past we have been consultants for many cask sales, to Europe and North America. We have many contacts in this industry, and have been making huge inroads into cask ownership, be it for purchase & bottling, or investment. We have sold single malts, blends, teaspoon casks to private individuals, wee groups, whisky clubs and societies.

Why Invest in Whisky? It is tax free – minimum investment from just £2,000. An unprecedented growth of the whisky industry saw the export value of Scotch whisky exports grow by 4.4% to £4.91 billion in 2019. The most common theme among investors is to treat a private cask investment as a way to build a legacy with friends and family. Many investors will buy a cask to celebrate a milestone, such as a wedding celebration or welcoming a new baby into the family and choose to bottle the cask upon a landmark date – such as an 18th or 21st birthday. Briefly, you buy the cask. HMRC charge Duty on liquid based on the percentage of pure alcohol. This is measured in alcohol per volume (ABV). UK value added tax (VAT) is currently 20%. Both Duty and VAT are due after your cask has been bottled and the finished goods are removed from a bonded warehouse. All taxes are subject to change by the UK government. Don’t forget to allow costs for duty/taxes, bottling and labelling, delivery etc. Some distillers we know will offer to buy back the cask at maturation, this is such as complicated business we suggest you do not “go alone”, seek professional advice, ourselves or alternatives. Whilst writing this wee ditty, we had a contact (just one friend) offer us casks from Tullibardine, Fettercairn and Tomatin. I know we; MCLEANSCOTLAND will be using a Tullibardine cask for our own very special Maclean gathering whisky in 2023. Also arranged for the same event, an Islay whisky destined for USA via a Maclean friend in California. Both own labels, sourced, labelled, bottled and delivered by ourselves.

Facts: Knight Frank published the wealth report in 2019. For the first time whisky appeared as an alternative investment. Whisky during the period of both 1 year through to 10 years, has outperformed all other investments, including gold, coins, fine art, classic cars, wine and property. Tax-Free Investment – Whisky casks are classed as a ‘wasting asset’ and are not subject to capital gains tax, with average annual returns of between 10-20%. Approximately 41 bottles of Scottish whisky are exported every second, equating to 93% of all Scottish whisky being sold internationally.

You do not have to be a whisky expert to profit and gain from this market. All you need is accurate and easy to understand information, we can supply this. For those with the finance, we have also been busy working on extra special adventures, such as a one off snare drum, made from a cask of Tullibardine.

We are not just a tour company – we are a whisky lifestyle!