Liquid Assets
Whatever yourdrinkof choice,alwaysgowiththewinning
combination of qualityandrarityforthebest investment potential
BY RACHEL DUFFELLScarcityis everything.“That’swherethestratospheric
pricescomefrom,andyouseethatthroughoutall
marketswedealwith,whetherthat’sChineseartwork,
contemporarypainting,jewellery,watchesandeverything
wesell.Rarityis alwaysa leadingfactorinprice,”
saysRobertSleigh,managingdirectorofoperationsat
Sotheby’sHongKong.
It hascertainlyprovedtobethecasewhenit comesto
wineandwhisky.Ata Sotheby’sauctionlatelastyear,a
bottleofDomainedelaRomanée-Contihita hammerprice
ofUS$558,000,settinga worldrecordnotjustfora 750ml
bottleofBurgundy,butforanybottleofwineatauction,
too.Similarly,a singlebottleofTheMacallan60-Year-Old
singlemaltwhiskyseta worldauctionrecordafterselling
for£1.2matChristie’sinLondoninNovember2018.The
ultra-rareelixirwaspresentedina one-of-a-kindbottle
hand-paintedbyIrishartistMichaelDillon.
Whiskieshavehugepotentialforscarcity.Andthat
scarcitycancomeindifferentforms,whetherthroughage,
whichoftenleadstolimitedavailability,orwithbottles
thathavea one-of-a-kindtaletotell.
TakethePortEllen 39 YearOld.TheIslaydistillery
inScotlandclosedintheearly’80sand,assuch,very
little liquid remains. This is of huge appeal to collectors,
whoknowtheyarebuyinga pieceofhistorythatcannot
bereplicated.
Releasescanalsobedeliberatelylimited.Thisapplies
particularlytothespiritsmarket,whereone-offorspecial
editionsareoftencreated.“Limitededitionsarehighly
soughtafterbycollectorsaroundtheworld.Andthat’s
definitelyanareaforinvestorstotarget,”saysSleigh.
High-endwhiskydistilleriesandcognachousesare
particularlycreativewiththeirlimited-editionreleases,
choosingexceptionalliquidgold,someincommemoration
ofa specialoccasion,butalsocollaboratingwithartists
anddesigners.Lastyear,forexample,Martellworked
withFrenchartistMathildedel’Ecotaistocrafta special
cyanotypebottleandgiftboxfortheMartellCordonBleu
LimitedEdition,whileTheMacallanhasreleaseda number
ofexceptionalbottlingshousedinfineLaliquecrystalware.
SingaporeanbankerKeithChong,a long-timecollector
ofwhiskiesandotherspirits,says:“Buyingwhiskywas
notforinvestmentatfirst.I wasmoreconcernedabout
nothavingenoughtodrinkafterI finishedthebottle,so
I startedbuyingtwo,thenfour,thena caseofeach.”The
strategypaysoffinthewhiskyworld,whererarebottles
canfetchastronomicalprices.Throughexperience,Chong
began leveraging his “excess” bottles to obtain others.The Macallan in Lalique Legacy Collection was sold for US$993,000 through an auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong8 singaporetatler. the tatler 300 list 2019
THE TATLER 300 / Rare Spirits