Whisky Invest Direct: a new online marketplace

The Scotch whisky industry faces an important financial boost from the launch of a new online marketplace that enables private investors to buy and sell many different Scotch whiskies early on in the maturation process, while the spirit is still in the barrel.

WhiskyInvestDirect comes from the team behind BullionVault, the largest physical gold and silver market online, together with a former director of Diageo with 24 years' industry experience.

The positive outlook for Scotch sales worldwide has recently put significant financial demands on distillers’ cashflow. WhiskyInvestDirect claims to provide a source of capital for distillers, with greater flexibility than traditional banking debt.

Historical performance of maturing Scotch whisky has been strong, averaging real price appreciation of 7% annually over the last decade. Using this new online platform, investors who've bought whisky early in the maturation process and held it in HMRC-approved warehouses in Scotland can then sell to the world-famous blends which account for nine in every 10 bottles of Scotch sold globally.

CEO and co-founder Rupert Patrick comments: “Scotch whisky's long ageing process makes forecasting sales very difficult for individual distillers. Cautious production, plus the lack of a modern trading platform, has caused whisky's traditional broking market to dry up, leaving a clear opportunity for a technology-based alternative.

"I have never been more confident about the prospects for the Scotch industry, and by using our cutting-edge platform, both investors and distillers alike can benefit from the growth of the multi-billion pound Scotch whisky market.

"Using the proven trading and custody technology behind BullionVault's success, WhiskyInvestDirect solves a real problem in this vital, growing UK export industry."

About WhiskyInvestDirect

WhiskyInvestDirect is a new market for buying and selling Scotch whisky as it matures in barrel – a compelling asset class delivering better than 7% annual appreciation after storage costs and inflation over the last decade. It provides cash-flow during the maturing process, enabling investors large and small to own the single malt and grain spirit which blended brands need, stored in bonded warehouses as it matures. Coupled with CEO Rupert Patrick's 24-year industry experience, WhiskyInvestDirect is launched by and employs the proven trading and custody I.T. of BullionVault – the world's largest online market for physical gold and silver, and winner of two Queen's Awards for Enterprise.

For more information, visit https://www.whiskyinvestdirect.com/

25 September 2015 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor