The global $81 billion whisky industry is booming—and it's a growing area for high-end collectors
The Secret to Collecting Fine Whisky, Explained by a Top Auctioneer“What time will you be here today?” asks Jonny Fowle via WhatsApp. “I’ve got us about £150K of whisky to drink.”
The hope of deciphering the arcane world of rare whisky brings me to Sotheby’s headquarters in London’s tony New Bond Street, where the downstairs foyer flanks a gallery stocked with obscenely valuable art. Fowle beckons me through a maze of locked doors and slender corridors to a small room, maybe 10 ft by 15 ft, which is usually used for perusing high-end watches. Instead, eight bottles await inside—single malts from across Scotland ranging from 30 to 75 years of age.
A native of Edinburgh, Fowle got into whisky almost by accident. He graduated from the National Film and Television School and was working as a sound engineer producing effects for films. But in the lull between projects, he began doing corporate whisky tastings, shamelessly monetizing his bushy ginger beard, Scottish accent and skill playing bagpipes to earn cash on the side.
In such a specialized market, sales can mean an extreme personal touch. On one occasion, Fowle rushed a colleague to Paris to present an American client with a sample of a particular whisky in a four-hour window before he flew back to the U.S. After a 10 a.m. tasting in his hotel room, he later picked up the bottle for around $1 million. “It can be quite skin-of-your-teeth ,” says Fowle.
This is the essence of what makes whisky collectable: rarity and quality. Still, for the amateur collector, predicting what will hold or increase in value is tricky. A big headache for Fowle can be provenance. While a lot of whisky sold by Sotheby’s is sourced straight from the distillery—casks they’ve kept hanging around for half a century or so and decide to monetize—there’s also a booming secondary market.
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