Over the past few years, the popularity of Japanese whisky has grown continually, and it certainly doesn’t look like the trend is set to stop any time soon. However, as more turn to the world of Japanese whiskies, we have seen price tags skyrocket. What was once a modest interpretation of Scottish malt whiskies has become an industry where it isn’t surprising to see a bottle with a £1,000 price label. In fact, for many bottles coming from Japan, this is a reasonable figure!
Why do Japanese Whisky Prices Keep Rising?
While some price rises will naturally be linked to the increased interest in the drink, it doesn’t immediately explain why some bottles will have £100,000 price tags.
Closed Distilleries
One of the key reasons that Japanese whisky is so expensive is that there is simply not enough supply to meet the ever-growing demand. While whisky boomed as an industry in the early days, when it first started to be made in Japan in the late 1930s, by the 1980s other alcoholic beverages such as beer and shochu, a spirit made from rice, had taken over as the most popular drinks.
Due to the change in demand, in the 1980s, many distilleries were forced to close their doors, or dramatically slash the amount of whisky they were producing. Even some of the biggest names in the whiskey industry, such as Nikka, stopped producing whisky for a number of years as the demand was just not there!
With many of the best bottles of whisky requiring an ageing time of between 12 and 30 years, the whiskies that would have been made during the ‘80s would be ready for sale over the past few years. However, as the distilleries closed for business around 30-years ago, the bottles do not exist!
Awards Increase Demand
While the 80s saw a decreased interest in Japanese whisky, this all changed in the early 2000s, when Suntory’s Yamazaki 12-Year-Old was recognised with an international accolade, winning gold at the International Spirits Challenge in 2003. The next year Hibiki 30-Year-Old took home a trophy at the same whisky competition. Since then, the demand for Japanese whisky has only risen, and the awards keep rolling in, with Japanese whisky even being named the Best Whisky in the World in recent years!
With more and more awards being presented to Japanese whisky, the demand for these award-winning bottles keeps increasing. However, due to the distillery closures, there is very limited stock of many of these bottles, and some are not being produced at all anymore. Because of this, the price of each bottle continues to rise. An example of this is the 52-Year-Old Karuizawa Archer, which sold for $128,000 at auction in 2017, yet the Karuizawa distillery stopped production in 2000 and was closed for good in 2011.
Price Rises Draw In Collectors
We can see how rapidly whisky prices have risen, as more and more people try to get in on the Japanese whisky hype. In 2016, Yamazaki 50-Year-Old sold for $129,000 – then the most expensive bottle of whisky sold at auction. At the start of 2018, another bottle of Yamazaki 50-Year-Old hit the auction again, selling for $299,000 – a staggering increase of $170,000 in just over a year!
With prices rising this extremely, and demand ever-growing, collectors and investors are willing to spend thousands or even hundreds of thousands of pounds on bottles as they know that they can get a higher return within a few months.
The Future of Japanese Whisky
Larger distilleries are set to be back on track with production and distribution to keep up with the new demand by 2020. Despite this, prices are not likely to drop as the rarity of Japanese whisky at present has developed it a reputation of being luxurious and good quality.
Is Japanese Whisky Worth It?
Ultimately, the answer to this question is all down to your intentions. If you find a good bottle of Japanese whisky for £10,000, then it would be well worth it as an investment opportunity, as it is likely to be resold for far higher at a later date, whereas you probably won’t get £10k worth of enjoyment out of taking a sip! There are many more reasonably priced bottles of Japanese whisky in the UK for those who are more into drinking their whiskies than shelving it. However, unfortunately, many commercially produced bottles also have inflated prices due to the skyrocketing figures attached to the rarer blends.
What are your thoughts on Japanese whisky? Let us know whether or not you think Japanese whisky is worth the price in the comments below!
5 Japanese Whiskies Available in the UK
30 November 2018 by Ellie
As the popularity of Japanese whisky continues to grow, finding a good quality bottle for a great price is becoming increasingly more difficult, especially when on the hunt for a premium expression or rarer blend. With Christmas on the way, you may be looking for a bottle to give as a gift or to drink yourself over the festive period. Here are five Japanese whiskies that are available in the UK at Havana House!
Forget Guinness World Records; this is whisky world records. We’ve scoured the Guinness books for the biggest and best world records related to the wonderful world of whisky. Read on to see if you’ve got a shot at beating any of them:
Every other month it seems as if a new bottle has broken the record for being the most expensive whisky in the world. With more and more people turning to collecting or investing in whisky, more than ever is being sold, with some nights seeing more bottles change hands than whole years have in the past! While some may argue that there is no difference between being a collector of whisky and being an investor, others argue that true collectors are not in it for the potential returns, but rather for the joy of completing their personal collection. We take a look at the difference between collecting and investing in whisky.
Japanese Whisky is known for its subtlety and complex flavours. Typically juxtaposed against the bold but straightforward designs of Kana script, Japanese whisky takes something with centuries of history and thousands of miles away in the Scottish highlands and puts its own respectful reinterpretation in a bottle.
While you may love a glass of bourbon, how much do you know about the drink? Not only does it taste great, but there’s also a host of interesting facts about this type of whiskey! From where it’s predominately produced, to the strict rules that have to be followed to qualify as bourbon. Read on for five facts about this brilliant drink, which you can show off when next enjoying a glass or two of whiskey with your chums!
Macallan Valerio Adami Becomes Most Expensive Whisky in the World
10 October 2018 by Ellie
A bottle of The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60 year old has become the most expensive whisky in the world. The bottle was sold at a Bonhams auction in Edinburgh on the 3rd October for a staggering £848,750, breaking the world record for the most spent on a bottle of whisky!
Distilled in 1926 and bottled in 1986 after 60 years of maturation, the whisky was certainly far from ordinary from the beginning. The Macallan 1926 is kept in an extremely limited edition bottle, as only 12 bottles were ever produced with this particular label, designed by pop artist Valerio Adami. Originally sold for £20,000, these bottles were already something of a collectable from day one. The prolonged maturation period of 60 years meant that much of the whisky was lost to evaporation, or the ‘angel’s share’, which adds to their rarity as it means that fewer bottles can be produced.
This particular whisky has made headlines a few times before, with a pair of the bottles – one designed by Adami, and one by artist Sir Peter Blake – going on sale for $600,000 each back in April 2018. The whisky has also beaten its own record, as the same 1926 vintage was sold at a Bonhams Hong Kong auction in May for £814,000, which at the time made it the most expensive bottle of whisky in the world.
While the recent auction has created a new world record, the bottle actually sold for a little lower than anticipated, with a pre-auction estimate of £900,000 placed on The Macallan.
Whisky has recently seen a great rise in prices, particularly for collectables, with price tags increasing by 140 percent over the past five years. Whisky is now seen as a better investment than gold, with whisky specific investment funds starting up over the past year.
Working out at around £30,000 per shot of whisky, we hope that The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60 year old tastes worth every penny if it is ever opened instead of being resold!
Whether you enjoy a reasonable bottle of whisky or have something a little pricier stashed away in your drinks cabinet, why not pair your next dram with a luxurious smoke from Havana House, such as an incredible Davidoff cigar.
Whisky is like marmite, you either love it or you hate it. While that isn’t relevant at all, neither are these myths about whisky below. These false truths are notoriously circulated, and in this blog, we’re looking to bust them once and for all. So grab yourself a good dram and let’s put these myths to bed, once and for all.
Many whisky makers stick rigidly to their traditions, never straying from the tried and tested methods that have kept their distillery running for years. With a rising interest and popularity for whisky, many newcomers to the industry are having to forgo these traditions, in favour of weird and whacky techniques, in the hopes of gaining an edge on the competition. We take a look at some of the weirdest whisky producing techniques that have been attempted by distilleries!
In theory, whisky can be made from almost any grain, although the vast majority of distilleries will stick to the traditional four grains, which include barley, rye, corn and wheat. However, as the whisky world expands and distilleries look to new methods to get an edge on the ever-growing competition, non-traditional grains are being turned to to provide unique tastes on our drinks shelf. Read on, as we take a look at some of the experimental bottles on the market.
Plus, you’ll get the inside scoop on information, latest products, our biggest savings and more!
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