Ex-Diageo executive launches online trading platform for still-maturing barrels of whisky

By Nigel Huddleston

Published: 24 September, 2015

An online marketplace dealing in spirit from Scotch whisky distilleries that is still maturing in the barrel has been launched by a former senior executive at Diageo.

Rupert Patrick has set up Whisky Invest Direct with the team behind the online gold and silver market Bullion Vault.

Patrick headed new business development for Johnnie Walker and other Diageo whiskies in Africa and has also worked for Ian Macleod Distillers and for Beam, on Laphroaig and Teacher's.

The new service will enable private investors to speculate on Scotch whiskies early on in the maturation process.

Patrick said: "Scotch whisky's long ageing process makes forecasting sales very difficult for individual distillers.

"Cautious production, plus the lack of a modern trading platform, has caused whisky's traditional broking market to dry up, leaving a clear opportunity for a technology-based alternative.

"I have never been more confident about the prospects for the Scotch industry, and by using our cutting-edge platform, both investors and distillers alike can benefit from the growth of the multi-billion pound Scotch whisky market."

Printer friendly version