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 * About us
 * About whisky
 * Whisky News
 * Audit
 * Help
 * Contact
 * Login

 * Login
 * Open account
 * 
 * BUY / SELL
 * Quick-buy packages
 * Live order board
 * Pre-order new stock
 * Bulk Trade Bids
 * Exclusive bottling
 * 
 * Charts
 * 
 * About us
 * About whisky
 * Whisky News
 * Audit
 * Help
 * Contact

 * BUY / SELL
   * Quick-buy packages
   * Live order board
   * Pre-order new stock
   * Bulk Trade Bids
   * Exclusive bottling
 * CHARTS
 * OPEN ACCOUNT


WE OPEN THE WORLD OF SCOTCH WHISKY MATURATION TO YOU, THE PRIVATE INVESTOR

► Watch our video
Latest trades: 
                                                              
                                  Mannochmore Malt 2020 Q3: 4 LPA @ £5,91 per
LPA [16:49:46 CEST]         Blair Athol Malt 2016 Q2: 3 LPA @ $13,21 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]         Dailuaine Malt 2013 Q4: 2 LPA @ $19,39 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]         Glen Spey Malt 2013 Q4: 2 LPA @ $19,38 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]         Auchroisk Malt 2012 Q4: 2 LPA @ $20,81 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]        
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                              
                                  Mannochmore Malt 2020 Q3: 4 LPA @ £5,91 per
LPA [16:49:46 CEST]         Blair Athol Malt 2016 Q2: 3 LPA @ $13,21 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]         Dailuaine Malt 2013 Q4: 2 LPA @ $19,39 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]         Glen Spey Malt 2013 Q4: 2 LPA @ $19,38 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]         Auchroisk Malt 2012 Q4: 2 LPA @ $20,81 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]        
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                              
                                  Mannochmore Malt 2020 Q3: 4 LPA @ £5,91 per
LPA [16:49:46 CEST]         Blair Athol Malt 2016 Q2: 3 LPA @ $13,21 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]         Dailuaine Malt 2013 Q4: 2 LPA @ $19,39 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]         Glen Spey Malt 2013 Q4: 2 LPA @ $19,38 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]         Auchroisk Malt 2012 Q4: 2 LPA @ $20,81 per LPA
[16:36:51 CEST]        
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    
                                                                                                    


GOOD RETURNS FROM WHISKY MATURATION HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED OVER MANY YEARS, BUT
HISTORICALLY ONLY DISTILLERS AND BLENDERS COULD BENEFIT.

Private investing had become possible but only through purchasing whole casks.
Launched in 2015, WhiskyInvestDirect changed that, by allowing private investors
to buy quality whiskies at wholesale prices typically at 30% of the cost of cask
investment programs. Already some 5,000 users own enough to fill over 75,000
casks, that's the equivalent of 36 million bottles of maturing Scotch. Accounts
range in size from £700 to £3,500,000.

Economies of scale mean your whisky will be stored — still in the barrel — at
exceptionally low cost, in the original distiller's bonded warehouse. Its safe
storage there is evidenced every month by our published audit.

As it matures, and when you decide to sell, via our trading exchange, you'll
receive a transparently competitive price from other users and industry bidders.
At sale, mature whisky bought back by the trade has realised an average
annualised return of over 15% — after all costs*.

Together we profit through tackling this industry's greatest problem — the large
working capital requirement of financing maturing stock.

Which whiskies can I buy on WhiskyInvestDirect?

* Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Capital is at risk.


BUY

Deposit money into your account. Buy.




WAIT

Your whisky matures in the cask, improving with age.




SELL

Sell at anytime. Withdraw your cash.

Open an account today



HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE

The cash price for 8-year old Scotch whisky bought new, and sold each year of
the decade 2013-2022 shows average historical returns of 11.8% per annum, net of
all costs incurred on our platform.

This compares very favourably to deposit rates, but there are no guarantees and
prices can be volatile



Industry broking data from the Scotch Whisky Industry Review. The data shown are
net of trading commission, storage costs and evaporation.


OF COURSE, WE CANNOT GUARANTEE YOU WILL MAKE MONEY.

Naturally there are risks. But there are many sensible reasons for investing in
whisky maturation.


WHY HASN'T IT BEEN POSSIBLE BEFORE?

Previously there have been two big problems which prevent private investors from
participating in whisky maturation: complexity and scale. These combine to make
prices of barrel whisky very much higher for smaller deals.


TO HELP YOU WE MUST FIRST HELP THE SCOTCH INDUSTRY

 * The industry has two big problems: (i) estimating its sales growth during 10
   years of maturation and (ii) financing the stocks to meet that unknowable
   future demand.
 * We help producers out of these difficulties by inviting them to produce more
   whisky, and we commit large sums of our money to buying it young.
 * Producers know the quality of their output will be maintained, because they
   continue to look after it themselves during maturation.

 * Producers are pleased to generate revenue from storing whisky which they
   produced but do not own. It helps to offset the cost of storing their own
   stocks.
 * Producers become confident to invest more in brand development, knowing that
   through WhiskyInvestDirect additional stocks will later be available at a
   fair and competitive price - if their brand development goes well.
 * Because we help them, the distillers sell through us, to you, at wholesale
   prices - which are much cheaper than typical barrel purchase programmes.


EASY ACCESS TO OUR ONLINE EXCHANGE

 * WhiskyInvestDirect aggregates the whisky stockholding demand of a crowd of
   private investors to become a major stockholding operator in the whisky
   market.
 * We deploy substantial funds to buy young whisky on our own account direct
   from the distillers, and we arrange for its storage in bonded warehouses. See
   the whiskies you can buy on WhiskyInvestDirect.
 * Via your WhiskyInvestDirect account you have access to these large stocks at
   industry wholesale prices, and ability to sell anytime.


THROUGH HELPING THE INDUSTRY WE CAN HELP YOU

 * You want to be a whisky wholesaler - acting for profit.
 * You understand that whisky maturation usually offers you a sensible return,
   which you believe has a good chance of being materially better than returns
   you get from a deposit in a bank.
 * You like retaining access to your money in the event that you may need it
   quickly.

 * You view whisky as a useful investment diversification - though not as a
   substitute for other mainstream investments.
 * You realize that it can be difficult to invest in whisky, and you are pleased
   to be part of a crowd, so that your combined market power gets you a better
   deal.
 * You do not want to be involved in the operational details (wood, re-vatting,
   re-gauging, blending, bottling, etc).


WHY CHOOSE WHISKYINVESTDIRECT?

Whisky stays safely in the bonded warehouse

When you buy or sell only ownership of the whisky changes. It does not move.
There is no shipment, and there are no delivery costs.

Deal in any size

Trade in units from one Litre of Pure Alcohol (LPA) up to tens of thousands.

No minimum holding period

There's no tie-in. Sell, and withdraw your money, at the time which suits you.

Competitive prices

Cask investment prices are typically x3 higher than WhiskyInvestDirect prices.

Notification of trade bids

We'll keep you informed when a blender is bidding for any stock line you own.

Trade 24/7

Deal with other private investors, distillers, blenders or us - whoever offers
you the best price - via our 24/7 live order board.

Get paid straight away

When you sell, your funds settle instantaneously to your WhiskyInvestDirect
account, ready to buy more whisky or to withdraw.

Next-day withdrawals

Your money is returned by bank transfer the next business day.


WHAT DOES IT COST?

Our fee structure is simple and transparent.

Commission to buy or sell: 1.75% by value.

Storage (including insurance): £0.208 per Litre of Pure Alcohol per year (£3 per
month minimum).

Fees are billed to your account.

(For USD accounts, current rate: £1 = $1.26)

See full tariff >


OUR CREDENTIALS

WhiskyInvestDirect is part owned by Augmentum Fintech plc and is the platform of
choice for Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Distell, Beam Suntory and Whyte & Mackay.

 1. 
 2. 
 3. 
 4. 
 5. 
 6. 
 7. 

> "Investors can now gain exposure to an entirely new asset class: whisky in the
> barrel… [a] market never before widened out to include private investors."
> 
> The Telegraph

> "There is no minimum investment and no minimum length of time that investors
> have to hold the whisky…"
> 
> How to invest in whisky, The Financial Times' FT Money Section

> "Turning wholesale whisky into an asset investable for individuals is a very
> unique idea… Whisky's nature — that its value increases as it ages — is
> completely different from other commodities."
> 
> Kazuhiko Saito, Chief Analyst, Fujimoto Co.
> Forget the bottle, Invest in Whisky by the Barrel, Bloomberg

> "WhiskyInvestDirect has turned whisky into a new asset class… Investors get
> into the market when the spirit is at its cheapest."
> 
> The Daily Telegraph Guide to Investing, Kogan Page 2017

> "To invest in the liquid gold of Scotch whisky you need an experienced guide,
> and with over twenty years in the trade, much of it in the key emerging
> markets, Rupert Patrick [Co-founder & Chairman, WhiskyInvestDirect] certainly
> knows his stuff."
> 
> Tom Bruce-Gardyne, Journalist and author of The Scotch Whisky Book

> "[The] whiskies are stored in the original distiller's bonded warehouse,
> independently audited each month… you can sell at any time."
> 
> Whisky: Is it the ultimate liquid asset? The Times

> "The merit of investing in whisky is risk dispersion."
> 
> Yasuo Sugeno, senior economist, Daiwa Institute of Research

Open an account today


FAQS

 * Whisky
 * Value
 * Safety
 * Tax
 * Account

WHICH WHISKIES CAN I BUY ON WHISKYINVESTDIRECT?

You can buy the following whiskies.

 * Ardmore
 * Ardnamurchan (non-peated)
 * Ardnamurchan (peated)
 * Auchentoshan
 * Auchroisk
 * Benrinnes
 * Blair Athol
 * Borders
 * Bunnahabhain
 * Cameronbridge
 * Caol Ila
 * Dailuaine
 * Deanston
 * Girvan
 * Glenlossie
 * Glen Elgin
 * Glen Garioch
 * Glen Moray
 * Glen Spey
 * Inchgower
 * Invergordon
 * Kirkcowan
 * Kirkinner
 * Ledaig
 * Linkwood
 * Mannochmore
 * Nethermill
 * North British
 * Starlaw
 * Strathenry
 * Strathmill
 * Tamdhu
 * Teaninich
 * Tobermory
 * Tombae
 * Tormore
 * Tullibardine

We'll regularly add further whiskies to our order board as they become
available.

HOW LARGE IS THE SCOTCH WHISKY INDUSTRY?

Scotch whisky is big business. Worth about £5 billion to the UK economy, Scotch
whisky is responsible for 25% of UK food and drink exports.

HOW IS SCOTCH WHISKY MADE?

Scotch whisky is made from cereals which are allowed to begin germination, a
process which releases enzymes that turn grain starch into sugar. The
germination is halted by heating, and yeast is added to ferment the sugary
mixture. The fermentation result - basically beer - is distilled to produce a
clear-coloured, sharp distillate which is not suitable for drinking and which
contains several hundred complex organic compounds. Water is then added back,
and the mixture is stored for maturation in naturally permeable, second-hand,
oak barrels.

The barrels, which will previously have stored bourbon, sherry or possibly port,
offer a richly complex semi-permeable membrane through which gases can pass.
There the many different organic chemicals interact both with the distilled
spirit, and with each other, during this maturation process.

In ways which are not fully understood the chemistry of the distillate changes
subtly as it reacts with the second-hand wood, and with the cold, damp, Scottish
air which slowly crosses the membrane.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SINGLE MALT WHISKY AND GRAIN WHISKY?

Single malt whisky is made in a traditional batch process using a copper pot
still at a single distillery. Single malt is the premium, traditional style of
whisky, but the artisanal manner of its production is not easily scaled. When
bottled as single malt it accounts for 8% by volume and 18% by value of Scotch
whisky production.

Single grain whisky is made continuously via a modern column still, on
industrial scale. The output is purer alcohol, but with much less flavour and
character than a single malt. The single most important fact about whisky is
that the fate of very nearly all single grain whisky is to be blended with one
or more single malts to produce a much better tasting derivative type called
blended Scotch whisky.

Single grain accounts for 60-85% of the volume of blended whisky, which accounts
for 92% of Scotch sales by volume, and 82% by value.

HOW BIG IS THE WORLD MARKET FOR SCOTCH WHISKY?

The world market for Scotch is currently about 100 million cases, 93% of which
is exported from the UK. This is equivalent to about 35 bottles leaving Scotland
every second of the year.

It is relatively evenly distributed across major markets.

Scotch has a 4% share of the global spirit beverages market by weight, and about
12% by value. It sells as a high status premium drink primarily to affluent
middle-aged men.

The fortunes of Scotch are closely correlated to the world economy. Growing
global GDP tends to encourage Scotch demand. Scotch consumption tends to falter
when economies contract.

WILL THE EXTRA INVENTORY WHISKYINVESTDIRECT CAUSES TO BE PRODUCED CAUSE A GLUT,
AND DEPRESS PRICES?

This is a theoretical possibility - but the scale of the industry makes it very
unlikely.

The industry is comfortable with 8-9 years' worth of sales undergoing
maturation. Following unpredicted demand over the period from 2009 to 2013 the
industry's stock level of mature whisky is currently tight. There is no glut at
the moment.

WhiskyInvestDirect's plan, over 10 years, is to own and store a small percentage
of the aggregate stock - equivalent to between 1% and 3%. This is in line with
the sales growth projected by many industry analysts.

WHAT QUALITY IS THE WHISKY?

All the spirit/whisky is good quality single malt and grain produced by
reputable distillers.

HOW IS THE WHISKY STORED?

The whisky is stored in oak barrels, in bonded warehouses in Scotland. The
warehouses are run by highly reputed whisky producers with whom
WhiskyInvestDirect has entered into agreements for storage.

The particular bonded warehouse location of every barrel is specified, and
evidenced on the monthly Audit, published on the WhiskyInvestDirect site.

Stockholders often redistribute barrels from the same batches to multiple sites,
in order to reduce single site exposure for each individual whisky.

These warehouses operate under Duty suspension, and HMRC exercises strict
control over them.

HOW MUCH WHISKY IS IN A CASK?

Cask contents vary according to barrel type

Our most common 'hogshead' barrel contains approximately 250 liquid litres. The
spirit is filled into the cask at 63% alcohol, so there are roughly 157 Litres
of Pure Alcohol (LPA) in each cask. Both the whisky and the water evaporate -
together at just under 2% per year. Because the alcohol evaporates a little
quicker than the water the strength slightly reduces during maturation.

Commonly used bourbon barrels hold around 120 LPA and larger sherry butts hold
over 300 LPA.

DO I HAVE TO BUY AN ENTIRE CASK?

No. Our unit of measure is a Litre of Pure Alcohol, or LPA. You can buy as
little as one LPA, but with our minimum storage charge of £3 per month such
small purchases are not economical.

WHICH WHISKY IS THE BEST TO BUY?

We expect each whisky to mature well. While we can't predict future demand, we
know that all the whiskies we buy are important components in leading Scotch
whisky brands.

WHERE DOES THE STOCK OF WHISKY COME FROM?

We buy directly from a variety of well-known and widely respected Scottish
distillers.

On the order board - where you trade - you will see each different whisky
identified by name. Many of them are very well known.

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN MY WHISKY IS MATURE?

A whisky can be considered 'mature' as young as three years old, or it might
carry on maturing for 20 years. It depends on many factors, not least of which
is the marketplace, and how much brand premium a brand owner can expect to earn
from bottling that particular age.

The best way we can tell that a whisky is approaching maturity is that a brand
owner decides to buy some of it. When that happens we keep you informed.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE WHISKY HAS MATURED?

We all share the objective of getting mature spirit profitably bottled and
shipped to the consumer. That is the job of the brand builders and trade
customers, and we keep them informed regarding the availability of maturing
stock on WhiskyInvestDirect.

Before WhiskyInvestDirect, brand owners who had sold all their 10 year old
production had restricted opportunities for buying more whisky. This is what we
change.

In the future, the more marketable your particular holdings, the more attention
you will get from trade buyers who need mature blending stock for their
successful brands.

Sometimes the trade will simply post bids for a particular stock line on our
order board. They can ask us to notify owners, to draw attention to the bid,
which means you will not have to keep a close day-to-day watch on bidding.

They can also make Bulk Trade Bids. These offer a way for trade buyers to
acquire a lot of whisky from multiple owners under the same commercial terms. We
always notify our customers when there is a Bulk Trade Bid and of course bidders
have to make their bid attractive in order to encourage holders to sell. Often
these bids will offer you a premium from the prevailing price.

Once you sell, the buyers will withdraw the whisky from the warehouse for
blending and/or bottling. Then the whisky is usually shipped to consumer markets
rapidly. They take care of the associated formalities and charges.

As a user you do have a bottling right, which you can certainly use if you think
your whisky would profit you better in your own bottles. But don't forget there
are issues with warehouse licensing, shipping and tax. WhiskyInvestDirect is not
suitable for small scale bottling runs because the minimum fees are set for
industrial quantities, and are significant.

WHAT ABOUT EVAPORATION?

Barrel whisky evaporates at just under 2% per annum, which is known as the
Angels' share. Evaporation is part of the maturation process.

Wholesale whisky is traded as Litres of Pure Alcohol (LPA) on an Original
Fillings Basis (OFB). In combination they refer to the amount of spirit which
went into the barrel at the outset (filling).

When you come to sell your whisky it doesn't matter how much has evaporated. You
sell LPA on the OFB. It is up to the buyer to make an approximate calculation of
how much actual spirit will be in the barrel by anticipating the total quantity
shared out between 'the angels'.

CAN I VISIT THE DISTILLERY?

Approximately 50 of the 100 Scotch distilleries are open to visitors. Some of
the others are happy to arrange visits by appointment.

I CAN'T SEE THE WHISKY I AM INTERESTED IN.

There are over 100 single malt distilleries in Scotland. WhiskyInvestDirect
deals in significant volume in top quality malts and grains and regrettably
there will always be some fine whiskies which are unavailable.

WHICH WHISKY IS THE BEST TO BUY?

In value terms it's difficult to differentiate between the available whiskies.
We stock some famous brands, and they can trade at a premium over the others.
But this is not necessarily a good indicator of ultimate financial returns, and
as with stocks and shares it is never obvious which will be the winners. Again,
just as most investors select a variety of stocks and shares, most of our users
choose a sensible and conservative variety of whiskies.

The following are some issues you should bear in mind:

 * Single malt whisky is generally considered more valuable than single grain
   whisky.
 * Whisky appreciates in the barrel. So older whisky is generally considered
   more valuable than younger whisky.
 * Different barrels mature whiskies with different results. Sherry and port
   barrels are harder to source and impart particular flavours, so whisky
   matured in these barrels are generally considered more valuable than whisky
   matured in more common bourbon barrels.
 * First fill barrels usually mature better than refill barrels, so they are
   usually considered the more valuable.
 * In percentage terms, because storage is charged according to physical volume,
   the carrying cost of cheaper whiskies is higher in percentage terms than the
   carrying cost of more expensive ones.
 * The historical data suggest that after allowing for storage costs and
   evaporation the financial returns in the decade from 2006 to 2015 on typical
   blending single grain whisky was slightly superior to the return on typical
   blending single malt.
 * Over the last decade (to 2015) sales of single malt have grown faster than
   sales of blended Scotch whisky.

WHAT'S BETTER, GRAIN OR MALT?

Grain (~75%) and malt (~25%) are the key ingredients in blended Scotch whisky,
which represents about 90% of the market, with the other 10% being single malt.

Consequently grain whisky is produced in higher volumes, and from a small number
of very large industrial distilleries. It is widely considered inferior to malt
and relatively few people enjoy drinking it unblended as single grain whisky.

Malt is more varied and more characterful - and also more expensive to produce.
Large numbers of people enjoy single malt whiskies, which do on occasion become
very highly sought after, and can therefore provide a high potential upside to
the investor.

Both grain and malt require barrels for maturation, and of course both cost the
same to store. So the running cost of owning cheaper grain spirit works out as a
higher percentage of your investment.

All of these factors suggest that single malt is the better product.

However in considering value you must also consider price, and single grain
usually costs materially less than a similarly aged single malt.

So in spite of the superiority of single malt over single grain, over the last
10 years, because of its lower buying price, single grain has usually provided a
higher overall return.

CAN I SEE A BREAKDOWN OF PERFORMANCE BY DISTILLERY?

We have no historic data on the performance by distillery. We will of course
track this data as we go forward.

HOW ARE PRICES FOR BUYING AND SELLING DETERMINED?

The WhiskyInvestDirect order board acts as a stock exchange for whisky.

It is directly accessible to all - to you, other users, the industry
professionals, and WhiskyInvestDirect itself. On it you will see competing bids
and offers from anyone ready to trade their whisky.

These bids and offers produce, at any time, a highest (best) bid, and a cheapest
(best) offer, which will usually be very close to each other. The midpoint
between them is considered the current price of a whisky.

WhiskyInvestDirect accepts a special responsibility when it comes to its offer
prices for new whisky stock. We undertake that stock which we bought wholesale
within the previous 2 months will be offered within 2% of the price we paid for
it.

HOW IS WHISKYINVESTDIRECT REGULATED?

WhiskyInvestDirect is regulated under English Law. Its regulatory status is
markedly different from the financial services industry.

You are not buying something which under English law is defined, by the
Financial Services and Markets Act, as an investment. You are instead buying a
tangible product which - through the construct of bailment - you will own
outright as your physical property.

This sort of purchase, and the custody of your property, is regulated by a
number of laws which are generally more intuitively and widely understood than
is financial services regulation. The relevant legislation includes the Sale of
Goods Act 1994, Fraud Act 2006, the Theft Act 1968, and the Money Laundering and
Transfer of Funds (Information) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (2019) etc.

These statutes apply broadly to non-financial British businesses and have proven
effective instruments for fair regulation of the purchase and sale of goods.

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WHISKYINVESTDIRECT FAILED?

Your whisky is safe from WhiskyInvestDirect's insolvency - a liquidator cannot
claim it as an asset of the business.

With many investments (e.g. a deposit account, or a bond) you transfer your
property to a business and allow yourself to be treated as a creditor. If that
business were to fail this would entitle you, as a creditor, only to a
proportionate share of the gross assets of that business, which would in due
course be distributed to you by the liquidator.

But through WhiskyInvestDirect your property is held in safekeeping. This means
you make no transfer, and your whisky does not become owned by
WhiskyInvestDirect. You are not a creditor, you are the whisky's owner.

Consequently the liquidator cannot consider your whisky as the property of the
company, and must return it to you in full before any payout to creditors. This
is the huge advantage of being an owner of property and not a creditor of a
business. You cannot lose your stock through insolvency, only through its
physical theft or destruction, and these risks are insured.

HOW CAN I BE SURE THE WHISKY IS THERE?

Your whisky is stored in HMRC-registered bonded warehouses, managed by the
Scotch whisky producers we buy from, all of whom are members of the Scotch
Whisky Association.

The whisky producers provide a cask list, which lists all the casks and the
spirit maturing in each. We publish the cask lists on our web site.

Every month we also publish online our register of owners and their holdings.
(We hide identities by listing holdings against your public nicknames, not
usernames.) You can check for yourself that the total on the register matches
the total on the cask list.

DO I GET A CERTIFICATE AS PROOF OF OWNERSHIP OF MY WHISKY?

It is very important that we do not provide you with a certificate! Why not?

A formal certificate changes the legal status of what you own from a physical
asset, to a security evidenced by a certificate which purports to be backed by
whisky. Suddenly the law has to consider what would happen if there were more
certificates in issue than there was whisky backing them.

Title to WhiskyInvestDirect client whisky derives from the register which modern
technology (the internet) allows us to put in the public domain.

You will receive a monthly statement which reflects the register. Also you can
view the register whenever you want online. WhiskyInvestDirect is structured for
you to own whisky, not a security.

IS THE WHISKY INSURED?

Yes, all the whisky is insured. The cost of the insurance is included in the
storage charge.

CAN THE WHISKY SPOIL OR GO OFF?

Rigorous quality controls are done before the whisky is filled into cask. Once
the whisky is in cask it is rare for it to spoil and any spirit quality issues
are almost certainly due to a defective cask which can be isolated before
blending or bottling. WhiskyInvestDirect customers are protected from any
quality issues by our standard commercial agreement with suppliers.

HOW DO YOU GUARANTEE THE QUALITY OF THE WHISKY?

The whisky you buy is sourced directly from selected leading distillers who have
their own high quality standards. We also sample the whiskies we buy to ensure
they meet our expectation.

The following information is presented as guidance for UK investors.

WILL I HAVE TO PAY UK CAPITAL GAINS TAX?

In the UK most people have an annual CGT exemption. In 2023/24 it is applied on
the first £6,000 of gains across all their investments, down from £12,300 in the
previous tax year. This will be further reduced to £3,000 for tax year 2024/25
and subsequent tax years. If profits on WhiskyInvestDirect are deemed capital
gains, then ordinarily the amount of the annual exemption would apply, and
profits above the annual exemption are ordinarily taxed at 20%.

There is a possibility that the tax treatment of investing in whisky in bond
will attract less tax. There are arguments concerning wasting chattels.

A wasting chattel is an asset with a predictable life of less than 50 years.
This applies to the vast majority of whisky casks, but since some casks can
usefully mature whisky beyond 50 years it is not a certainty that whisky in bond
can be treated as a wasting chattel. We are still awaiting firm clarification
from HMRC.

WILL I HAVE TO PAY UK VAT/SALES TAX?

No. Maturing whisky stored 'in bond' is exceptionally rare in being a physical
product in which you can invest without paying VAT.

Personal tax issues vary, and WhiskyInvestDirect accepts no responsibility or
liability in respect of the information presented in answer to any matters of
tax. You should make further investigations yourself, and consult appropriately
qualified people if necessary.

I'M UNDER 18 YEARS OLD. CAN I INVEST THROUGH WHISKYINVESTDIRECT?

WhiskyInvestDirect does not accept users who are under the age of 18. Also, you
should be of legal age to purchase alcohol in your jurisdiction.

CAN I USE MORE THAN ONE BANK ACCOUNT TO FUND MY WHISKYINVESTDIRECT ACCOUNT?

Linking a single bank account with your WhiskyInvestDirect account gives you a
very high level of security.

In exceptional circumstances, you can link a new bank account to your
WhiskyInvestDirect account. When doing so, we will of course need to go through
a strict security process to ensure the safety of your account.

WHICH CURRENCIES CAN I USE ON WHISKYINVESTDIRECT?

You can operate your WhiskyInvestDirect account in British Pounds or US Dollars.
When you open your account you choose which of these currencies you wish your
account to be denominated in. You may send deposits in other currencies, in
which case our bank will convert the funds, at their standard conversion rates,
once they reach our client account. Or you can convert the funds before sending
your payment. You can ask your bank to do this for you, but you may be able to
obtain a better conversion rate by using third-party currency-conversion
specialists.

IS THERE A MINIMUM LENGTH OF TIME I HAVE TO KEEP THE WHISKY?

You can sell your whisky at any time. However, you are unlikely to recoup your
trading costs if you use WhiskyInvestDirect for very short-term investments.

Generally you should try to avoid exiting within the first few months.

CAN I RESERVE MY OWN CASK?

No. It is not possible to reserve an individual cask.

CAN I TAKE DELIVERY OF MY WHISKY? CAN I TASTE IT?

It is possible to have your whisky bottled and delivered to you but the
complications and costs of setting up a bottling run are significant.

You should probably think of yourself as an 'in-bond' wholesaler. Under these
circumstances you will neither take possession nor sample the whisky.

Your whisky will be stored safely along with the whisky belonging to other
WhiskyInvestDirect users. It is possible to have your whisky bottled and
delivered to you but the costs are not insignificant. More information on taking
delivery is available in our help pages. We do not offer a sampling service.

CAN I HOLD MY WHISKY IN A UK SIPP?

No. It is not possible to hold your whisky in a SIPP.


OPEN AN ACCOUNT

Try out buying and selling with a free sample.




TRANSFER FUNDS

Make a bank transfer to your account.




BUY WHISKY

Choose which distilleries on our live order board.




VALIDATE YOUR ACCOUNT

Upload photo ID and bank statement.

Open an account today


CONTACT US

Email

support@whiskyinvestdirect.com

Phone

UK and International: +44 (0)20 8600 0135


Opening hours

9am to 5:30pm (UK), Monday to Friday

Address

WhiskyInvestDirect Ltd
3 Shortlands
Hammersmith
London W6 8DA
United Kingdom

Registered in England and Wales: 09068458

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