Whiskey : Investment vehicle

[yountvillewjs]

For those of you at this much longer than I, you've surely seen the increase in prices. I certainly watched this with wine, and eventually it seems to fade or settle back to equilibrium -- but not before some things get insane.

http://www.minyanville.com/dailyfeed...d-be-the-next/

[sailor22]

Before you realize any profit from your investment you need to sell it. Unless it's sold through a licensed auction house that's against the law. Everyone has their own comfort level regarding that.

If EBay decides to no longer allow sales, and that could happen at any time and without warning, or there are a few more high profile arrests like the recent one of in Virginia of a collector selling his wine collection on craig's list, then the value of the dusties and limited release Bourbons that some have been hoarding will plummet because there won't be a viable market place. Just something to consider before you bet the retirement nest egg on the Bourbon bubble.

[yountvillewjs]

I posted this as a discussion topic for the group, curious to see what the general thoughts of the collective were. I've seen the rise and fall of investment-grade wine funds -- they never seem to work out for the investors, but do seem to take a certain few houses/producers to a new price level (SW Pappy perhaps) and cache.

I've never sold a bottle of wine let alone a bottle of bourbon. My bunker just reached a new personal milestone -- 12 bottles, or one empty wine box. But I do agree that without the benefit of something like a winebid.com or eBay, getting out of a spirit based investment could be difficult and cost prohibitive.

Before you realize any profit from your investment you need to sell it. Unless it's sold through a licensed auction house that's against the law. Everyone has their own comfort level regarding that.

If EBay decides to no longer allow sales, and that could happen at any time and without warning, or there are a few more high profile arrests like the recent one of in Virginia of a collector selling his wine collection on craig's list, then the value of the dusties and limited release Bourbons that some have been hoarding will plummet because there won't be a viable market place. Just something to consider before you bet the retirement nest egg on the Bourbon bubble.

[spinningrecords]

Aren't there better ways to generate income?

Let's drink the whiskey.

[sailor22]

Aren't there better ways to generate income?

Let's drink the whiskey.

I'll toast to that!

[Enoch]

Investing in collectables is always very risky.

I collect Hard Rock Cafe lapel pins and have close to 1500. When Rank Corporation bought the company from Peter Morton and Isaac Tigret and then the Seminoles purchased it from Rank, they both flooded the market and now they are worth a fraction. (Aside from the fact the HRC is not nearly as cool or fun or good as it was under the original owners.)

I switched to Bourbon and now have almost 600 bottles but at least I can drink it. You can't drink pins.

MHO

[Hershmeister]

Buy what you like. If it happens to go up in value, you'll have bought it cheap!

[dridge11]

I agree with Enoch and have the same feeling about wine, if the value goes up, great. If it goes down, at least I can drink it. You can't enjoy "funds" or "stocks" as much. However, if you have an genuine interest in the commodity you're investing in, then it brings me to Hershmeister's point. "Do I want to sell it? Because if I ever want to try this product again, this is what it will cost me now."

I have a bottle of 2000 Mouton Rothschild that I picked up for $350, now it trades close to $1000. That's a great return and I have the means to sell it. But I want to drink that bottle and my cost to ever drink it again is now much higher if I let this one go.

If you truly do it as an investment, you'd have to purchase them with the full intentions of never drinking them to avoid temptation if the value increases. If they remain flat or go down, you have plenty of juice to drown your sorrows.

[SMOWK]

If EBay decides to no longer allow sales, and that could happen at any time and without warning, or there are a few more high profile arrests like the recent one of in Virginia of a collector selling his wine collection on craig's list, then the value of the dusties and limited release Bourbons that some have been hoarding will plummet because there won't be a viable market place. Just something to consider before you bet the retirement nest egg on the Bourbon bubble.

I think that the opposite will happen if eBay cracks down on sellers. The price will go up. If you can't buy it, all of the sudden it becomes worth a lot more. Hence, SW....

[marco246]

I drink all the whiskey I buy. It is not an investment, no matter how much is bunkered. I invest in the stock market and have a few hundred shares of Beam, Inc. I don't mix the two, although it helps that I like Knob Creek and Maker's Mark.