Whisky cask bought for $176 now worth over $350,000

By Adam Dutton

A granddad's 57-year-old cask of whisky he bought for $175 is now worth $360,450 and the oldest of its kind in existence.

Angus Kerr, 81, bought the keg of Glenrothes single malt as an investment in 1971 shortly before the supplier went bust.

The commodity consultant intended to buy one cask a year to let them mature before selling them to pay for his kids' school fees.

Just a few weeks after buying his first batch, his supplier closed down and all records of its whereabouts were lost.

Angus feared the cask was lost forever until 18 months later when he was billed by the Macallan distillery, which was storing it.

The distillery, nestled in the picturesque Speyside, Scotland, had the cask and all the paperwork stored in its warehouse.

To his amazement, the barrel, which was filled on January 2, 1969, is now the oldest Glenrothes cask ever and worth more than $360,450 - over 2,000 times what Angus paid for it.

Granddad-of-eight Angus forked out $175 for the whisky after losing over $1,335 in the stock market when Rolls-Royce collapsed - despite not even liking the drink.

Angus, of Surrey, said: "I was working in London as a commodities trader at the time.

"When Rolls-Royce went bust, I lost everything I had invested in its shares.

"It was probably about £1,000 it lost, which was a lot of money then considering a salary was about £5,000-a-year.

"Not long afterwards, I heard about a company in the city offering whisky casks as an investment.

"I thought that, if it all went wrong, at least I would be able to drown my sorrows.

"I paid £1.20 a gallon, which worked out at around £130 for the cask.

"The idea was that you bought a newly filled cask every year for five years.

"In the sixth year, you sold the first one, bought another and took the profit.

"I had earmarked the returns to help pay the children's school fees.

"After I made the purchase, I heard nothing. When I eventually managed to get through to someone, I discovered that the company had gone bust.

"I had no warrants, no proof of ownership and no idea where the cask was. I thought: 'that's it, I've lost the lot again.'

"I drink wine, not whisky, and I didn't know what to do with it, I'd written it off.

"Then, a couple of years later, the warehouse contacted me asking for storage fees.

"I asked whether they had the warrants, and they sent them to me.

"When I heard the value, it was really nice to hear.

"I really didn't know it was going to be this good. It is one of my best investments."

The whisky has an ABV of 42.2% and remains stored in a single oak sherry cask, containing enough spirit to fill 287 bottles at cask strength.

It is believed to be the oldest Glenrothes cask offered for public sale.

The distillery's own oldest bottling is 51 years old, released last year at $49,395 a bottle for just 100 bottles.

The cask is being offered for sale by whisky broker Mark Littler with a value of $360,450.

Mark said: "People buy lottery tickets with better odds than this.

"A cask bought from a company that collapsed, with no paperwork, sitting in a warehouse nobody had told him about, and it turns out to be the oldest Glenrothes ever offered for sale.

"I have never come across anything quite like it.

"What makes it truly exceptional is the condition of the whisky.

"Most casks left for 57 years either fall below 40% ABV, at which point they can no longer legally be sold as Scotch whisky, or the oak overwhelms the spirit entirely.

"This cask has done neither.

"The buyer can let it mature further or bottle it, and we can manage the whole bottling process for them.

"This one is neither."