There are many forms of whisky investment, from buying casks or stakes in casks to buying stock and shares in distilleries, but one of the most popular ways people invest in whisky is through buying luxurious bottles of the world’s finest whiskies.

The beauty of whisky collecting is that the scale and motivations of investors are so wide and diverse, from the devout collector hunting for rare exclusive historical bottles to people who try to collect more contemporary bottles to store for the future.

For some the motivation is to get a return on their investment, for others, it is simply about owning or preserving a piece of historical tradition for people in the future to enjoy.

However, because whisky is different from other historical collections, it needs to be carefully stored to avoid potential value-destroying damage to the label, the cork or simply to lose an “angel’s share” of your whisky to evaporation.

Here are some top tips to help preserve your investment.

Store Whisky Upright

If you have ever visited or owned a wine cellar, or even a small wine rack, you might have noticed that the bottles are stored on their side.

This is an important part of historical wine preservation, as it stops the build-up of sediment at the bottom of a wine bottle, and if the mood strikes you, makes it easier to open by keeping the cork wet on the inside.

Whisky, as well as any other hard spirit, should always be stored upright, and storing a corked whisky bottle on its side could potentially ruin your investment.

The reason for this is that whisky has a much higher alcohol content than wine, which means that it is more likely to simply erode the cork. This will invariably, given that the bottle is already on its side, lead to the whole bottle slowly leaking out.

Find A Cool Dry Place

Ideally, whisky should be stored in a cold-storage facility to ensure it is as precisely preserved as possible, but if one of those is impossible to find, then make sure it is stored in the coolest place possible in your house, such as a cellar.

The reason why whisky (as well as wine) is stored in cool places is simply to avoid evaporation, which can happen to whisky when exposed to heat. It should also be stored away from sunlight for the same reason, as that light can also heat the bottle and spoil your investment.

Keep It In The Dark

The labels of spirit bottles tend to be somewhat light sensitive, and will as a result fade when exposed to bright lights, particularly sunlight.

This is similar to old books and works of art, and much like how both are commonly stored in dark places when not being looked at, rare whisky bottles should be stored in the same way.

This is also a reason why so many rare whiskies sold at auction come with a storage box to help preserve the beautiful bottle within.