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Demand for rare whisky softens as 'taxes and tariffs threaten global sales'

The Edinburgh-based finance firm Noble & Co’s annual report of the whisky auction market involved analysing over 1.8 million data points from more than 91,000 transactions in the 12 months to October 2024.

The data revealed a 16% year-on-year decline in the volume of secondary whisky sales globally.

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Meanwhile, the average price of a bottle of whisky sold at auction fell from £370 to £363.

According to Noble & Co: “The volume of fine and rare single malts – defined as whisky sold at auction for more than £1,000 – has declined by 34%, and the corresponding value of those sales by some 40%. The collapse in value of the world’s rarest and most expensive whisky suggests demand has have been stifled by a weak global economy, inflationary pressures and the threat of rising taxes and US tariffs.”

Duncan McFadzean, head of food & drink at Noble & Co, commented: “If whisky investors and collectors were in choppy waters last year, this year they’re in the eye of the storm and are battening down the hatches. Top end investors and collectors are very cautious about price and value.

“While there is always room for record-breaking prices for the rarest bottles, the bubble in which fine and rare Scotch whisky has been traded for so long may have finally burst.”

The firm also emphasised that an “East-West divide is developing as shifting fiscal regimes in the US and UK diverge from those in China, Japan and Hong Kong”.

As a result, demand is predicted to rise in certain Asian economies, while the UK maintains “the highest minimum tax burden on a bottle of Scotch of any G7 country”, according to Noble & Co.

“Fine and rare whiskies have in recent years consistently attracted investors and enthusiasts alike with demand almost always outstripping supply at every purchase point. As protectionist strategies take shape in the US, it is possible that future demand for the rarest and finest bottles will materialise in Asian markets. Either way, what’s clear is that the secondary market is in a low ebb – the only question left is knowing when it will hit the bottom,” McFadzean added.

• Spirits
• whisky
• global sales
• advisory firm
• rare whiskies