INVESTMENT WHISKIES

KARUIZAWA SINGLE CASK 1971

Here is the rationale, hardly city trader standard (but then that may be a good thing), behind our next whisky investment. It was an explanation given to me for why Black Bowmore and White Bowmore have skyrocketed in price, from an original price under £100 to a price in excess of £2000.

That was a return on investment that matches dotcom boom returns, rather than the standard hedge fund. Ready then? Here goes:

“On occasion, a whisky comes along that is basically very under-priced. It is reasonably new, unknown, and has insufficient review to warrant a big ticket price. What happens is that it gets bought, drunk, enjoyed, and then re-purchased by those who now know it. Quality and value combine to clear out stocks. Reputation and scarcity come into play.”

Such an event has happened recently to the Karuizawa 1971, Cask Number 6878. Imported by Marcin Miller, launch editor of WhiskyMag and more recently founder of “One Drinks”, this was priced for retail sale at approximately £110.00. And it sold. In fact, it sold out. So much so that it has “gone”. Vanished, disappeared.

Let me be clear – if you find one, and it is available for anything less than £150 British, (currently 210 USD or (165 Euros), buy it for yourself, or buy it for me. Now that represents an immediate 40% ROI – in less than two years. Beat that hedger!

The Karuizawa Distillery is a small scale Japanese whisky distillery, using 100% Golden Promise barley - far better than Golden Shower barley in our opinion – wooden washbacks, small stills and Spanish sherry casks. What sets Karuizawa apart from the very Scottish style it echoes is water that has been filtered through lava, and the variation in temperature between extremely cold winters and very hot summers.

Enough said. See if we’re right.

© 2009 GrainMash.