Monthly newsletter for November 2020

Dear Readers,

Once again our whisky portfolio has proven its resiliency through the tumult of US elections, announcement of a Covid vaccine and continuing Brexit negotiations.  We’re therefore optimistic that 2020 will turn out to be a solid year for the collective with our team reaching the annual investor return goal once again. 

The overall whisky category continues its momentum, with active auctions globally, new releases hitting the market, and ongoing news that showcases the interest in the industry.  Last week there was an announcement that the famed Hanyu distillery will be reopening as soon as next year. It’s worth noting that Ichiro Akuto, owner of the Chichibu distillery and owner of the remaining stock from the shut-down Hanyu distillery (also bottler of the 58 single malts card series), is in fact not the one reviving the distillery. It will be the previous operating company, Toa Shuzo, who originally received their license to distill Hanyu in 1946.  Luckily for them they will be able to enjoy all the brand growth and global recognition Akuto-san has built over the years. 

As part of our ongoing efforts to give our investors more insight into how we operate at the Collective, this month we also published a deeper look into our investment approach at SVC.  We detail our portfolio strategy regarding the 3 categories of “rare and collectibles”, “liquid investments” and “wildcards”.  More to follow next month as we provide further colour on how we conduct valuations on the inventory in our portfolio and the nature of the secondary auction market.

Our returns for October landed at 1.58%, which now means we have realised a 8.76% return thus far in our second year (with 5 months runway to go). Yamazaki 2009 Sherry Cask and Mortlach Old 30 year old Old & Rare have performed especially well this month (+37% and +70% respectively), and we expect similar returns in November as we see some significant bottles come up on auction. Notable purchase this month has been the Glenburgie 44 year old Old & Rare.

Marek, Marc, Neil, Gary