The Borders Distillery press release
How whisky investors are supporting the first Scottish Borders' distillery in 180 years
LONDON, 15 August 2018 – New spirit from the Scottish Borders' first distillery in 180 years is now available on WhiskyInvestDirect, the online marketplace where investors can buy and sell Scotch whisky as it matures and gains value in the barrel.
Like all Scotch, the Borders Single malt from the new Borders Distillery in Hawick must be matured for a minimum of 3 years before it can be called and sold as whisky.
Investors using WhiskyInvestDirect can now buy this young spirit online and own it – stored in first-fill bourbon barrels held in a bonded warehouse with no VAT or duty to pay – alongside well-established names like Caol Ila from Islay, Auchentoshan from the Lowlands region and Glen Moray from Speyside.
Launched in September 2015, WhiskyInvestDirect today cares for more than 6 million Litres of Pure Alcohol (the industry's standard wholesale unit) for its users. Worth over £18m at current wholesale prices, that's enough spirit to make almost 17m bottles of Scotch once mature.
Each investor owns £8,000 worth of maturing spirit on average.
Historic trade data show maturing Scotch has appreciated over the past decade by more than 8% per year after costs and inflation.
"The Borders Distillery is producing a superb new spirit," said Rupert Patrick, CEO of WhiskyInvestDirect. "When I visited the distillery I was very impressed by the quality and scale of the operation. It's top class."
Overlooking the River Teviot in Hawick and using only barley grown in the Borders, the region's first working distillery since 1837 opened in March after £10m of investment.
John Fordyce, Co-Founder and Director at The Borders Distillery, said he's delighted to be partnering with WhiskyInvestDirect.
"This deal is excellent for The Borders Distillery, as it allows us to plan and invest for the long term. Scotch whisky needs time to mature and there are no short cuts to producing top quality whisky."
The biggest financial constraint on new distilleries is the long lead time between building a distillery and generating cash.
Maturing fine Scotch whisky often takes many years. That means a significant amount of capital is tied up in maturing barrels of whisky, at a time when the distiller needs cash to invest in marketing, publicity and brand building.
"The industry is seeing marked growth in the premium and super premium categories," said Patrick.
"For established brands, WhiskyInvestDirect is about helping them to manage their stock situation for 10-year old Scotch and beyond. For new distillers, helping them with their cash flow is also one of WhiskyInvestDirect's core purposes."
The deal provides the Three Stills Company with working capital in return for 50,000 LPA of the first new make spirit distilled in the Borders since 1837.
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Notes to editors:
About WhiskyInvestDirect
WhiskyInvestDirect is the online market for buying and selling Scotch whisky as it matures in barrel – a compelling new asset class for investors large and small, showing better than 8% annual appreciation after storage costs and inflation over the last decade.
The Scotch industry last year contributed £4.3 billion to Scottish trade and was responsible for 25% of UK food and drink exports, selling 35 bottles per second overseas. WhiskyInvestDirect supports this centuries-old business by providing cash-flow to distillers and by introducing for the first time an electronic exchange where brand-owners can then source a range of high-quality single malts and grain whiskies.
Coupled with CEO Rupert Patrick's 24-year industry experience, WhiskyInvestDirect employs the proven trading and custody I.T. of BullionVault – the world's largest online market for physical gold and silver, and winner of two Queen's Awards for Enterprise.
For more information, visit https://www.whiskyinvestdirect.com
Or contact:
Rupert Patrick
Rupert.patrick@whiskyinvestdirect.com
Direct: +44 (0) 20 8600 0136
