Whisky connoisseurs are a rapidly growing demographic in Taiwan, driving prices ever higher as collectors vie for the most coveted editions.
Although not a new pastime, whisky collection has been picking up steam in recent years.
According to the Scotch Whisky Association, Taiwan was the third-largest buyer of Scotch whisky in 2021 in monetary terms.
Photo: Wu Sheng-ju, Taipei Times Warning: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health.
One collector, surnamed Fu (傅), said there are many types of whisky that are ripe for collecting.
One that has skyrocketed in price in recent years is the Macallan 12-year-old Gran Reserva, which bears a striking purple label, said Fu, who has more than 10 years of experience as a collector.
When it first came out, the bottle retailed for just more than NT$1,000, he said.
Photo copied by Wang Kuan-jen, Taipei Times Warning: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health.
More than a decade later the price has inflated to NT$25,000, creating resale opportunities for people who have held on to their stock, he said.
The Macallan sherry oak 12-year-old single malt Scotch with old bottlings can fetch five times as much as they did at release, rising from about NT$1,200 to as much as NT$6,000, Fu said.
The Macallan No. 1 to No. 6 editions have also appreciated rapidly, especially Edition No. 1, Fu said.
When it first came out, interest was low and it sold for only about NT$4,000 per bottle, he said.
Yet ever since Edition No. 4 hit the shelves, people have begun to take notice, he added.
A bottle of Edition No. 1 now sells for NT$50,000 or higher, and the prices of the other editions have risen alongside it, Fu said.
Another collector, surnamed Lai (賴), said that most expensive whiskies are from large distilleries.
Apart from being of high quality, many are vintage bottlings or have other significance, he said.
It is hard to go wrong with a single malt, sherry cask or vintage whisky, Lai said as suggestions for the casual drinker.
Japanese whisky collection has also become more popular in recent years, with some bottles that used to sell in the thousands of New Taiwan dollars now retailing in the hundreds of thousands, he added.
Considering the extreme price inflation, Lai said he would not recommend these choices for new collectors.
In general, when starting a collection, Lai advised against buying ultra-expensive or limited-edition whiskies.
Although they might appreciate over time, they are also risky investments, he said.
Lai instead recommended that beginners find vintage whiskies that are inexpensive and enjoyable to drink.
That way, if it does not appreciate, you still have a delicious bottle of whisky to enjoy and do not need to worry about the market, he added.
Only after gaining some experience would Lai recommend trying out speculative purchases.
Meanwhile, kaoliang liquor has also caught the eye of collectors, allowing Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc to experiment with new marketing techniques.
Kaoliang collector Sung Hsiu-ming (宋修名) said that many attractively packaged bottles are available.
Yet when it comes down to it, quality is king, he said.
When selecting kaoliang, Sung recommended paying attention to three factors: taste, rarity and condition.
Collecting kaoliang as an investment can offer high returns, an expert surnamed Hsu (許) said.
The easiest way is to buy the year’s most popular type, Hsu said.
For instance, the company’s flagship 58-proof “platinum dragon,” as it is popularly known, can be sold for a threefold profit after one or two decades, Hsu said.
However, there are downsides to this kind of investment, as the bottles need to be kept for a long time in suitable conditions and the packaging is monotonous, Hsu added.
For instance, the 1992 edition now sells for about NT$6,000 — or more than NT$10,000 if in pristine condition — while the original Year of the Rooster edition can also fetch more than NT$10,000, Hsu said.
Fu advised that sellers take care to keep the entire package, including the box.
The bottle should not receive direct light of any kind and buyers should avoid affixing any additional seals or labels, Fu said, adding that ambient temperatures of 20°C to 30°C should not be a problem, while it is still unknown whether fluorescent light would affect quality.
Bottles should be kept in a cabinet with desiccant if the room tends to be humid to keep the label from yellowing, as appearance has a huge effect on price, Fu said.
Meanwhile, buyers should check the color and clarity of the liquor to make sure it has not deteriorated, Fu said.
It is also important to check that it has not evaporated by making sure the level has not fallen below the neck of the bottle, or else the asking price can be heavily discounted as it shows the bottle was not well preserved, Fu added.
A Keelung high school on Saturday night apologized for using a picture containing a Chinese flag on the cover of the senior yearbook, adding that it has recalled the books and pledged to provide students new ones before graduation on Thursday. Of 309 Affiliated Keelung Maritime Senior High School of National Taiwan Ocean University graduates, 248 had purchased the yearbook. Some students said that the printer committed an outrageous error in including the picture, while others said that nobody would notice such a small flag on the cover. Other students said that they cared more about the photographs of classmates and what was
GOING INTERNATIONAL: Rakuten Girls squad leader Ula Shen said she was surprised that baseball fans outside of Taiwan not only knew of them, but also knew their names Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics on Saturday hosted its first Taiwanese Heritage Day event at the Oakland Coliseum with a performance by Taiwanese cheerleading squad the Rakuten Girls and a video message from Vice President William Lai (賴清德). The Rakuten Girls, who are the cheerleaders for the CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys, performed in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 people, followed by a prerecorded address by Lai about Taiwan’s baseball culture and democratic spirit. Taiwanese pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸), who was signed by the Athletics earlier this year, was also present. Mizuki Lin (林襄), considered a “baseball cheerleading goddess” by Taiwanese
WAY OF THE RUKAI: ‘Values deemed worthy often exist amid discomfort, so when people go against the flow, nature becomes entwined with our lives,’ a student said “Run, don’t walk” after your dreams, Nvidia cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) told National Taiwan University (NTU) graduates yesterday, as several major universities held in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. “What will you create? Whatever it is, run after it. Run, don’t walk. Remember, either you’re running for food, or you are running from becoming food. Oftentimes, you can’t tell which. Either way, run,” he said. Huang was one of several tech executives addressing graduating students at Taiwanese universities. National Chengchi University held two ceremonies, with alumnus Patrick Pan (潘先國), who is head of Taiwan
A 14-legged giant isopod is the highlight of a new dish at a ramen restaurant in Taipei and it has people lining up — both for pictures and for a bite from this bowl of noodles. Since “The Ramen Boy” launched the limited-edition noodle bowl on Monday last week, declaring in a social media post that it had “finally got this dream ingredient,” more than 100 people have joined a waiting list to dine at the restaurant. “It is so attractive because of its appearance — it looks very cute,” said the 37-year-old owner of the restaurant, who wanted to be
RSS