Views on the whisky scene at the moment?

[lincoln imp]

This question has been on my mind for a while,
I am drinker pure & simple and I have previously collected until I decided to drink what I have.
Not too long ago I could afford to buy nice bottles but since the clatter of investors and people flipping bottles and the industry to a point encouraging this behaviour by advertising gains and describing investment opportunities I don`t really bother any more.
I feel like drinkers are being frozen out of everything due to other things that are happening,
I just wondered what everyone else thought about the general whisky scene at the moment and some of the trends that are currently happening?
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Pour me a glass please.

[sorren]

The whisky scene is what it is.. Some brands are way overhyped while others are just damn greedy.. If you look around there are plenty of superb brands and good quality at very affordable prices !
Affordable bottles will always be available but the collectible bottles will continue to go up in price, this is just a fact of life. We may not like or agree with it but it ain’t going to change..

[Forbes]

Whisky is a business and producers get what they can for the whisky they produce, and why wouldn't they? We may not like it, some like to moan about it more than others but it is not going to stop whisky makers getting what they can for their whisky. Premium whisky such as Scotch malt whisky has become very popular and sought after worldwide and continues to increase in popularity, historically there has always been slumps in popularity of whisky but at the moment as far as premium whiskies such as aged whiskies are concerned there is unlikely to be a slump in the foreseeable future and we are likely to see prices continue to creep up.

[Uncle Bobby]

As a collector for twenty five years or so I used to enjoy the thrill of the chase, keeping my ear to the ground for any snippets and scouring the shelves for bottles which may become future collectables but the fun has largely gone out if it now.
Every man and his dog is doing it now, mostly for the profits which they perceive to be easily achievable. And of course producers have fuelled this demand and added to the frenzy.
I don't bother the same nowadays. I pick up the occasional bottle but am more content to sit on what I have and have a laugh as prices head onwards and upwards.
I have quite a few contacts in the industry and they all tell me that markets such as India and China have hardly been scratched so far and as they are further"educated" in the delights of Scotch Whisky demand will only increase and with it the desire for unique, limited or rare expressions.

[webdunk]

Interesting that posts so far seem to be about the whisky market rather than a scene per se. For me, the whisky scene is booming.

There's all kinds of stuff going on and you can pick the bits that appeal to you. Taking Inverness as an example, we have a recently opened specialist whisky bar; formal tastings run by 4 different local enterprises; a handful of bloggers/instagrammers; a large, diverse group of local folk interested in sharing their whisky experiences; festivals a-plenty; great online availability through primary and secondary markets; a wide variety of whisky offerings from an increasing number of nations... the list goes on.
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Inverness Whisky
@in5tadram

[Quaich1]

A few thoughts..... The whisky scene from my point of view here in Canada is quite effervescent and thriving. There are more women drinking premium single malts than ever before, seeing it as trendy. Here in Canada, single malts are very popular as are Canadian whiskies and US bourbon. Prices vary a great deal but generally single malt prices are significantly higher than in Scotland particularly for aged whiskies. Late release here (several years after the fact) of single malts that became a big hit in Europe are introduced here at a base price much lower than what the same whisky had crept up to in price in Europe years later resulting in some great buys.
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"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[albo]

You only have to read this forum these days to see whats happening with whisky and where it is heading.

Fewer threads about whisky and discussions like we used to have about cask management and aging processes and the like and a lot more about what people think this or that whisky might be worth. For me its sad, and thats the reason I abstain from here now.

Take the Bowmore thread, how many people are buying up bottles on the assumption that they will gain in value and can be flipped for profit. Each to their own on that score, in the past I have made my personal feelings clear, but I keep myself to myself now, everyone has the right to do as they please within the law, so yeah, it is what it is.

That said it is sad in my opinion how this forum, which I see as a distilled version of the scene as a whole, has gone over the last few years.

[MattS]

On the internet I'd argue one of the biggest things to occur in the scene is the Whisk(e)y Vault and Tribe growing out of Texas. The Youtube Whisk(e)y Vault channel went from a standing start to eclipse Ralfy as the biggest channel in under 2 years. They certainly won't appeal to everyone but they have drawn a global following that can only be good for whisky. Along with opening a distillery and racking up significant backing on Patreon they have networked with other channels and broadened the appeal of whisky in general.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCElm866_W5r1eg8VjhFNARw

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCphIm9gI_JbeI0ByZSRt5Mg

[Kray]

[havaska]

For me, a relative (just over 2 years) newcomer to the whisky scene, I don't know much about what it was like before.

But what I do know is that more and more people know more about whisky and are drinking different types of whisky. More people are getting into it too and you're more likely to be able to go into a pub and see some single malts on the shelf rather than just Bells, Jack Daniels and Jamesons.

I also know that supermarkets now stock much better variety of whisky (you can get Ardbeg in Tesco!).

So, for me, the scene is booming.

With regards to pricing, I wish I'd have known the era of cheap single malts but I'm afraid it's gone and unlikely to return. The market has moved to become more premium and is unlikely to go backwards, the same way craft beer has, and indeed gin has.

[Archer]

[MattS]

[Dave h]

The scene is plain and simple all about the £ € ¥ $

Very good marketting and gimmicky limited release sets.

Retailers acting as auction houses seeking to highest buck. Simply google searching to check other bottle prices and price accordingly or sell as if it was from a private collection. Or assume that a customer is going to flip it so wants more money in the first sale disregarding any rrp.

Distilleries/ owners restricted by law, so one informed me, about having no say or control in their relationship with retailers selling their bottles. Retailers can do as they want according to law so the Distillery said., i've lost my interest to go and enquire about the specifics.

Disappointed genuine drinkers or collectors missing out on bottles as everyone appears to want a piece of the pie.

Whisky headlines of record breaking auction sales interests those with capital who want to dabble in flipping.

New distilleries popping up, seems healthy scene to produce whisky and the climate is that if you get a good PR you can sell out your early bottles when no one has tasted the young whisky. Easy money.

Ballots for limited releases becoming the norm, but more and more people enter the chances of getting one are less.

More people buying blind, a distillery could sell absolute awful whisky if the marketting was good tell you what I'll buy 3 bottles, 1 to drink, 1 to flip and 1 to keep.

Prices are only going one way, and sad to see the distillery opting to double price on popular tasty dram.
Disappointed to discover limited releases are so hard to find, and when you do the mark up is extreme.
The scene is very popular for those with money but there are few morals left and everyone is after money... the heritage and love of whisky is changing to industrial/clinical/cold. I'm a drinker, have some bottles Ive yet opened and a few bottles I have invested for my kids or if I fall on hard times.

Internet auctions continue to fuel the greed... retailers dont like auctions, and distilleries fuel them both. customers are at the mercy of the retailer or auction, bottom of the food chain.

[eelbrook]

The whisky community is multi-dimensional. There are those whose main focus is drinking and socialising. There are those who collect. There are those who invest (often to fund their drinking bottles). There are those who do all three. I think that every one of these categories is catered for as never before.

[ralfy legend]

All I can say is I’m finding it fun, I love talking about it to people who know more than me, trying to learn and enjoy my whisky experience, yes at times I see the prices pathetic but with internet for me I have the chance to understand if it’s a good call or not, everybody is at some time being cared for.. but the older generation I accept will not see it as a good thing going forward.