THERE’S no doubt that the global appeal of Scotch whisky – Scotland’s largest export – continues to endure. In February, the Scotch Whisky Association has released export figures that show the value of Scotch exports topped £5.6 billion in 2023 with the equivalent of 1.35 billion 70cl bottles heading overseas, equating to 43 per second.

That’s no mean feat and it goes some way to explaining why The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), which marked its landmark 40th anniversary last year, is such a robust entity, with whisky aficionados all over the world among its membership. With venues in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, it’s the world’s biggest whisky club – and it’s owned by the Artisanal Spirits Company, which this week revealed that its Scotch whisky spirit stock has been independently valued at £98.4 million – an uplift of about £76m.

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This, combined with a book value of about £3.5m of American, other world whiskies and other spirits, the valuation represents a total cask spirit value of just over £100m, it announced in a trading update for the six months ended June 30.

For Edinburgh-based Artisanal, the SMWS forms part of its “pioneering” business model, serving a “substantial and growing addressable market presenting a long-term global opportunity and a strong and resilient business primed to deliver growth”.

The firm pointed to “positive profit improvement momentum” with a year-on-year increase in earnings before tax of about £1m for the six months although its chief executive, Andrew Dane, pointed to “challenging” conditions with revenue “broadly flat” in HI24 but SMWS membership “broadly stable”. However, he added: “We are pleased with the ongoing improvement in year-on-year profitability in H1 and remain focused on delivering the full-year consensus Ebitda expectations of £1m and ensuring sustainable profitability over time.”

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A “proven strategy of investing in whisky stock has built an impressive inventory which will satisfy our requirements well into the next decade, as well as delivering a significant uplift in value creation”, he noted, adding: “While we have an independent expert valuation estimate of just over £100m today for the casks, the business is focused on generating maximum value creation through maturing and bottling these premium whiskies which ultimately delivers a multiple on the cask value, with estimated future retail value in bottles of almost £0.5 billion.

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“Furthermore, with our cask levels now reaching an optimal level, we have reached a turning point in the cash investment requirement in the business. Historic levels of investment in whisky stocks are no longer required as we transition to purchasing on a replacement basis to satisfy future growth demands, representing a very positive inflection point for the cash profile of the group.”