Many bourbon enthusiasts have told themselves (or their spouse) that a recent whiskey purchase was smart because, “It’s a good investment.” And who doesn’t dream about getting in on a private barrel selection to purchase with some bourbon-loving friends?
But what about buying entire barrels as a legitimate part of your investment strategy? (Let the ‘liquidity outlook‘ jokes begin to flow anytime.)
It’s an option. A company called CaskX does just that.
CaskX describes what it does this way: “We’re making it possible for everyone to invest in whiskey casks from leading distilleries. For too long, building a portfolio of whiskey casks has been out of reach for most private investors due to limited access and a lack of transparency in the industry. CaskX is opening the door to top tier whiskey cask investments for everyone.”
Investment executive Jeremy Kasler started CaskX in 2019. Today the company has offices in Los Angeles; Sydney, Australia; and Hong Kong. CaskX helps investors (500 currently and growing) from around the world purchase multiple full barrels of bourbon and single malt Scotch whisky. The minimum investment is 24 barrels. Their services include paying for rick house storage and taxes for eight years. As the value of the aging whiskey grows, so does your potential investment, once it’s time to sell.
“We offer a reasonable price based on demand for a particular distillery which includes storage and insurance for 8 years. We’re confident if you wait six or eight years, you’re going to make money,” Kasler said. Of course, he points out that, just as time in the barrel affects taste, it also affects the potential income you can make. “The longer you wait, the better.”
I was recently invited to participate in a media tour that offered the experience to “Become an Investor for a Day,” along with Kasler and members of his team.
Remember, this is Whiskey Network Magazine, not the Whiskey Street Journal. Disclaimer: I’ll leave the detailed financial analysis of the actual investment proposal to the business writers who were on the trip with us that day. The Bourbon Tutor offers interesting information, not personal investing advice. Your mileage may vary.
An All-Access Pass to the Bourbon Industry Behind the Scenes
The invitation from CaskX Whiskey Director (and local whiskey writer) Sara Havens said: “The itinerary of this trip was designed to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the Kentucky bourbon industry, including private tours at our partner distilleries Kentucky Artisan Distillery and Bardstown Bourbon Company.”
CaskX also buys barrels for investors from Jackson Purchase Distillery in western Kentucky.
The group gathered for cocktails the night before and started early the next morning to explore bourbon country. Our first stop was Kentucky Artisan Distillery (KAD) in Crestwood, Kentucky, just outside Louisville. KAD is a contract distiller and bottler and is the home of Jefferson Bourbon. I’ve been there many times and it’s always a pleasure, even if Master Distiller Jade Peterson was off fishing that day.
First we toured the distillery and then savored a tasting of KAD’s Whiskey Row Bourbon and several Jefferson’s expressions. Next, we got to walk through a rick house and see some aging CaskX barrels up close.
Public tours are available at KAD and are well-worth your time.
Our next stop was the “Bourbon Capital of the World” and Bardstown Bourbon Company for an “upscale, Southern lunch at the Kitchen & Bar.” Note: you never go wrong with the Fried Chicken Sandwich and its pimento cheese and jalapeno honey. But everything on Chef Stu Plush’s menu is well-worth trying.
After lunch, our band of short-term investors headed to one of original rick houses on site for a moveable-feast tasting that made stops at three different barrels of various Bardstown Bourbon Company expressions. The experience of thieving the whiskey straight from the barrel as you’re surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of a whiskey warehouse is one of the most sublime a whiskey enthusiast can imagine.
For those keeping score at home, the Original Series high-rye bourbon seemed to get the most votes in our unofficial tasting poll.
An Emotional Payoff
As the day wound down, I asked Kasler why it was important to offer CaskX investors this kind of “all-access pass” to the inner workings of the bourbon industry.
“The commercial reason for it is, we do more business because of it,” Kasler said. “But there’s an emotional payoff as well. We’re talking (with our investors) about bourbon all day, we’re sending emails with photo attachments. But it’s only when we actually come here and see the barrels, smell the corn bubbling, that it’s like, wow…it’s quite a moment. It’s unusual to be able to invest in something and really meet the people behind it, rather than just get certificates in the mail.”
An emotional payoff, indeed. If you’re a “hands-on type” investor, love whiskey and how it’s made, then you might want to see if the folks at CaskX can help put a potable positive tilt in your portfolio.
