Spain is the second largest European investor in Scotch whisky after the United Kingdom. Whisky is popular in Spain. And not even necessarily as an aperitif, but also as a good investment. The European market is at the forefront of investing in this Scottish product and Spain has even knocked Germany out of second place in terms of investment.
Spain ranks second in all of Europe when it comes to the highest investment in whisky. This conclusion was drawn in response to investor Braeburn Whisky 2022 Whisky Cash Market Report. In concrete terms, this means that Spain has even overtaken Germany for the first time. Only the UK Kingdom more in whisky last year. In 2022, Spain purchased 103 Scotch whisky barrels compared to Germany’s 88.
Europe is at the forefront of investing in Scotch whisky
Europe was also the market that made the highest investment in whisky worldwide with 74.78%. The UK had the largest share with over 74%. Europe was followed by Asia with a percentage of 18.35%. However, what is striking is the growth in investors by millennials and gen-Z.
The best performing Scotch whisky cask distillery is Laphroaig with an expected growth of almost 19%. This is followed by Staoisha (+17.74%) and Bunnahabhain (+17.57%). Furthermore, the report shows that the return on investment in young barrels (0 to 3 years old) is currently quite high. This despite the inflation of raw materials and the related production costs. Older barrels have a higher initial investment because they are rarer. Moreover, the yield does increase over the years that they have been bottled.
Investing in whisky protects wealth in uncertain times
Braeburn Whisky director Niall Brown said that “the performance of the Scotch whisky investment market held up despite a year of significant inflation and uncertainty over the Ukraine conflict. While gold fell and other markets generally finished with the same numbers as a year ago, the value of the BC20 Whisky Cask Index rose by double digits. This shows that investors are turning to Scotch whisky not only as a means to grow their wealth, but also to protect their wealth in times of high inflation and market instability.”
Also read: Spanish whisky! Is that a thing?