Cask strength: Is rare whisky liquid gold or an evaporating asset?

IN the words of Mark Twain, too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough. Truer words were never spoken, it seems. In the face of rising wealth and global market volatility today, rare whisky has emerged as one of the most coveted luxury goods globally - both as a collectible and as an alternative investment for hungry investors chasing better returns. The value of rare whisky jumped 478 per cent in the past decade to top the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index. Asia's fast-rising affluent are feeding into the demand, with the region accounting for almost 65 per cent of the global whisky market growth in recent years.

While bottle sales are the norm, the lesser known category of whisky casks has also found favour with investors seeking provenance and longer-term gains.

Funds, cask investment schemes and even tokenised digital whisky assets have since come to the market to reach a broader base of investors.