Buying a cask of Macallan is no different to buying any other cask; you find a cask, agree a price and transfer the cask into your name. Of course, with Macallan casks the risk factors are higher due to the value of the casks involved. Then comes the question of how? How do you find the right cask, how do you check it, and how do you find a warehouse to store it for you?
Macallan casks are typically mature casks and over £100,000, so I would suggest taking expert advice when buying (or selling) a cask of Macallan. If you are in search of a Macallan cask please do get in touch for a tailor made discussion of your requirements. Email [email protected] with some information or use this page to arrange a consultation at a time to suit you.
Even with expert guidance, it is still important to understand what’s involved, so whether you are in the position to consider buying a cask of Macallan, or just curious about what is involved, I’ll run through everything you need to know about buying one of these iconic casks.
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Where Do Macallan Casks Come From?
As a whisky broker, I help people buy and sell casks every day. Some of the most expensive casks we handle are Macallan. Understanding where they come from can help you understand what’s available on the market today.
The Macallan casks you can buy today are those that were sold to the public through brokers in the early to mid 1990s. These are typically 1988 to 1993 vintages, fill dates after 1993 are rare.
It is worth adding that around the year 2000, Macallan launched the En-Primeur programme and sold a limited number of casks direct to the public. However, these casks came with strict terms and conditions and had to be bottled by Macallan. This means that while casks from this era are in private hands, they cannot be sold as casks.
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How Much Does A Macallan Cask Cost?
The significant age of the Macallan casks that are available and the prestige of the distillery means the realistic starting point for buying a cask of Macallan is around £100,000.
The average price for a hogshead (approximately 250 litres when it was first filled) from vintages between 1988 to 1993 is often between £100,000 and £400,000, depending on several factors. The upper limit for exceptional casks exceeds one million pounds.
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Where a cask sits within that range is down to a myriad of factors. The age of the cask, the type and size of cask, the colour and quality of the whisky, the alcoholic strength and the amount of liquid remaining all impact the final value.
All of the above factors combine to set a “price per litre of alcohol.” This means that the more whisky the cask contains, the higher the price.
It also means that setting your budget can’t be disconnected from your intentions with the cask.
Start At The End
When buying a cask of Macallan, the question that should go hand in hand with your budget considerations is, “what do you want the cask for?”
A general budget is important, however your aim with a cask will shape everything from what size and type of cask to look for, to where it should be stored, and will ultimately decide whether your budget works.
For example, if you want a cask to enjoy and draw samples from, then perhaps the size of the cask matters less, but the cask type becomes more important. You may also want to ensure it is stored at a warehouse that can facilitate custom bottling requests, and does the warehouse allow visits? How much will it cost to move the cask to one that does?
If you want to buy and bottle immediately, how many bottles do you need, as this will impact the size of cask, fill levels and ABV that are suitable for you. Similarly, if you want to mature the cask further, then strength and cask type are important.
For example, casks with a higher alcoholic strength (ABV) tend to command a premium. So a cask at 50% ABV would cost more per litre of alcohol compared to a similar cask at 42% or 43% ABV. Whether it is worth paying the premium for the higher strength depends on your intentions with the cask. The higher strength cask can continue maturing for longer and produce a higher yield of bottles, so a higher ABV would be practical if you’re considering maturing the cask further or you need to extend a bottle yield.
These are all considerations that an experienced broker should discuss with you as part of the process of buying any mature cask, whether it’s Macallan, Springbank or unnamed spirit.
A Warning On Pricing
Unfortunately price manipulation and misunderstanding is the biggest problem I encounter with customers considering Macallan casks. It can be tempting to see the price of a cask, divide it by the potential bottle yield and compare it to bottles of a similar age. For example, the Macallan 30 year old costs £4,000 a bottle, so if it looks as though the 35 year old whisky in the cask works out around £3,000 a bottle that can seem appealing.
There are two issues with this. Firstly, you need to remember that you’re not buying a Macallan branded bottled product. If you want to understand how much of a difference this makes to the potential price per bottle look at the value of Macallan Speymalt bottles from Gordon and Macphail—that’s a (slightly) more realistic comparison.
Secondly, you need to consider taxes, bottling costs and margins when creating a bottle price. You can use the Cask Calculator to understand taxes and get a more realistic base bottled cost. Do bear in mind that this is a basic calculator and can’t give you custom prices for glassware etc—you probably don’t want to put your £100,000 Macallan into basic £10 per unit bottle/labels. A good broker should be able to work with you to ensure you understand bottling costs and what’s involved if you prefer to sell the cask whole.
If You’re Buying Macallan Then Naming Rights Matter
Macallan is some of the most valuable whisky in the world, and if you’re paying a premium for a cask of Macallan then you probably want “Macallan” on the label. While only Macallan can use their official branding and trademarks, you can still get the distillery name on your label by stating that the whisky was “distilled at the Macallan Distillery.”
To be able to use the geographically correct statement your cask still needs to have something known as “naming rights.” On the delivery order, the cask should be labelled specifically and clearly as a spirit type as Macallan rather than Highland Malt or something else generic.
That being said, you can buy Macallan whisky that doesn’t have naming rights. So if you want something that tastes exactly like Macallan, and don’t care about using the name Macallan on your bottles, then a cask without naming rights could be a cost effective alternative.
Sherry Versus Bourbon Casks
For most people, Macallan means sherry. You can buy casks (usually butts) that have been matured exclusively in sherry wood, and these tend to command a premium.
The majority of Macallan casks from earlier vintages tend to be refill hogsheads without sherry or bourbon specified. This is because in the early 1990s when these were filled the declaration of cask type wasn’t as important to consumers then as it is now.
While it can be easy to be caught up in the romance of a sherried Macallan, it is worth considering other cask types because you can do your own finishing/re-racking.
The Truth About Re-Racking
Macallan in bourbon casks, or those matured in unknown cask types, can be transformed into sherried whisky through a process called re-racking—also referred to as cask finishing. This involves taking the contents of the original cask and transferring it into a different, usually more active, cask to impart additional colour and flavours to the whisky.
Every modern distillery uses cask finishing/re-racking to create their desired profile for each release. You can use the same process to create a finish that suits your tastes or ensures your cask can achieve the maximum value when you come to sell.
It is worth noting that re-racking tends to lower alcohol by volume and some liquid is lost during the process, so not all casks will be suitable for re-racking.
Where Are Macallan Casks Stored?
Until recently the majority of Macallan casks in private hands were stored in Macallan’s bonded warehouse. However, managing private casks is completely different from managing commercial stock. Having private casks in their warehouse was creating problems and queries that Edrington’s staff weren’t trained to handle. In 2022 and 2023 Edrington contacted all their private cask owners and told them to move their casks. This means that almost all Macallan casks are not at the official Edrington warehouses but in other warehouses across Scotland.
All warehouses are colloquially called bonded warehouses. These are excise warehouses where no duty or VAT has been paid. Movement from one warehouse to another is strictly regulated by HMRC and can only be done by authorised parties.
When you are looking at purchasing a cask of Macallan you need to consider the warehouse where it is stored. Does it allow new private accounts so that you can take ownership? If you wish to bottle, does it have facilities? If you want to visit the cask, can you? If the current warehouse doesn’t meet your needs, is there one you can work with to move the cask? These are all small things that you need to consider when buying a cask.
Paperwork & Provenance
Choosing a warehouse to work with is just as important as selecting the right cask. You want one that provides the services you need. In addition the HMRC registered warehouse system provides both your provenance and paperwork.
Having direct contact and confirmation from a registered warehouse is arguably the most important part of buying a high value cask because it is the part that ensures you fully own the cask.
Warehouse acknowledged paperwork (usually a delivery order) gives you full ownership, and therefore full autonomy, over the cask. It also provides confirmation that the cask is what the seller, dealer or agent says.
Casks of scotch have to be matured in bonded warehouses, these are registered with and audited monthly by HMRC. All casks are recorded and monitored from the point of their filling. This means that if you are getting confirmation from the warehouse you essentially have a government backed system that shows the cask is what it is—this is why a warehouse confirmed delivery order is so important.
For paperwork you need three things regardless of the cask you are buying: a contract, invoice and warehouse acknowledged delivery order.
The contract and invoice form part of your proof of ownership as recommended by the SWA. However it is the warehouse confirmed delivery order that transfers the cask from the original owner’s name into your name, giving you full control over the cask.
Ongoing Costs & Bottles
Warehouse fees are relatively modest in comparison to your initial purchase. A quality warehouse will charge close to £100 per year for a hogshead, around £200 for a sherry butt. More and less expensive warehouses are available, but you should check they meet your needs in terms of additional services (bottling, visits etc).
You can insure whisky casks although there are limitations to what you can insure against. (For example, you cannot insure against leaks and evaporation as they are inherent vice). I would suggest contacting Howdens to discuss your needs but you can expect insurance to start around £350 for the initial £100,000 worth of cover.
Bottling costs could fill an entire article on their own. The whisky needs to go into a glass bottle, which can cost anything from 50 pence for a tall round bottle up to +£50 for a crystal decanter from Glencairn. You’ll also need to consider delivery costs and taxes. For example, if you export your bottled cask to the USA, you’ll pay the 10% tariff plus local taxes. If you export to Germany, you’ll pay higher VAT rates. If you go to Australia or Asia, you’ll pay local taxes rather than UK taxes. If you wish to bottle these are all things you need to consider as part of your purchase.
The Risks
There are risks involved in cask ownership and you should take time to ensure you understand them. The below are some of the main considerations.
Scotch whisky must be above 40% ABV to be classed as scotch. If the ABV drops below 40%, it can no longer be classed as scotch whisky and the value plummets. You would have a cask of spirit, not a cask of Macallan.
All casks experience natural evaporation, this varies on average between 1% to 4% per year. Higher losses can happen, as can leaks. These are natural occurrences because a cask is an unsealed wooden vessel but do impact the value of a cask because the price is based on the amount of liquid.
You can lower the risks associated with natural losses and evaporation by placing the cask in a warehouse where it will be actively monitored by the warehouse keeper. You can also re-gauge the cask regularly to monitor evaporation and ABV changes.
When you purchase a mature cask it should have a fresh re-gauge to give you a starting point for your own monitoring.
A re-gauge involves dipping a rod into the cask and checking the wet and dry dip, checking the circumference and other measurements of the cask, and testing the ABV. It’s not an exact science but is an important part of maintaining a high value cask.
As with all investments, you should only invest what you can afford to lose.
Can You Flip A Macallan Cask?
No, you can’t flip a cask. Casks don’t experience rapid jumps in value. Even when they reach 30 to 40 years old the value increases smoothly and the price you pay will usually take into consideration 12 to 24 months of growth because nothing moves quickly with whisky.
You can re-sell a cask at any point, but it is also worth noting that the market for such high value casks is naturally small, and this will mean patience is needed.
If you have enough money to buy a 35 year old cask of Macallan, you might think about maturing it further for a celebration or family member. Perhaps you’ve just had a child and want to buy them a cask of whisky to give them when they turn 18. I also work with businesses looking at commercial bottling projects. They might be casino owners, hotel owners, or car dealership owners who want to bottle and sell or give gifts to their customers.
These casks are not the sort of thing the average person can buy, bottle, and put in auction. You need to think about it in terms of brand. Why would someone buy your bottling over a Gordon & Macphail Macallan? That isn’t to say it isn’t possible, just that it is not as straightforward as buying a cask and selling the bottles.
Final Advice
My key advice is to do your due diligence. Make sure you’re buying from the right source and paying a fair price. Have realistic expectations and understand the full cost of the process, from purchase to bottling to export to import to local taxes.
If you’re one of those people who do want to buy a cask of Macallan, I would be happy to help guide you through this complex but fascinating process. As a Spears500 recommended whisky advisor, Forbes.com contributor and vocal campaigner for clarity within the cask industry I feel Mark Littler Ltd offers a unique proposition as a cask brokerage.
Whether you are in search of Macallan casks specifically, or would simply like a discussion about the mature casks we have available now please do get in touch. You can use the form above, or email me at [email protected] with some information or use the booking system on this page to arrange a consultation. Mark will guide you through the options available and ensure you are matched with the right cask for your goals.
Alternatively, call the office on +44 01260 218718 to speak directly.