We understand that when purchasing a cask of whisky you want to be sure that you are paying a fair price for your cask, as with any other large purchase.
Normally, there is a general understanding in society about what an asset is worth. For example, most people have some concept of how much a house is worth in a given region based on a number of factors. The universal demand for this kind of information means there are resources available to help you check. That means even if you wanted to move to a new area you can research expected prices.
Scotch whisky is a billion pound industry, with 2023 exports worth over £2.1 billion. However the trading of whisky casks by private individuals is a fraction of that market and still a niche proposition. There are not many people who are able to correctly value a whisky cask just based on the age of the cask, the current ABV, and the distillery at which the cask was filled. Because it is a niche market, and because the actual value of individual casks can vary so significantly there is neither demand for or ability to produce a way to universally value whisky casks in the same way as houses or stocks etc. This puts additional pressure on consumers to understand the market they are looking to join.
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How To Check The Price Of A Whisky Cask?
There is no public index for people to refer to when buying a cask of whisky. No open source way for customers to discover how much a cask is worth before they buy means that you need to trust the person you are buying from.
If you buy a cask at an inflated price – the cask is worth much less than you paid for it – chances are that when you come to sell the cask, the profit will be much lower than expected, or nonexistent. And this is why it is so important to pay a fair price for your cask in the first instance.
At Mark Littler Ltd we created the cask calculator to help you to figure out how much a cask of whisky is worth. All you have to do is input information about the cask, and the calculator will create a per bottle cost price. You can then add a margin and compare it to open market (auction prices) to check you are comfortable with the proposed cost.
You can use our Cask Calculator to compare a cask price to readily available, wholesale bottle prices
