Roger Parfitt, a 59-year-old bank manager and father-of-two from Coventry, has earned himself the chance of early retirement as a result of his shrewd decision to invest in whisky back in 1994.

After more than 40 years in banking, Roger has made a career helping businesses and individuals make and manage money – it’s safe to say he understands the importance of good personal money management.

Understandably then, you would be forgiven for not seeing the immediate link between the traditional investment practices he deals with at work and a more unusual investment like whisky casks.

By his own admittance, Roger has never been an expert in whisky, but when the opportunity to invest in cask whisky came up in 1994, he believed it to be a relatively low-risk option: “I remember thinking, if it doesn’t appreciate in value, the worst that could happen is that you would have to get it out of the warehouse, bottle it and drink it. It always had that fallback for me – you could drown your sorrows if it didn’t work out financially,” he laughs.

Fortunately for Roger, that was not the case. For his original £4,700 investment twenty-seven years ago (£3,200 and £1,500 for a Macallan and Tobermory cask, respectively), in June this year he signed a sale agreement for a whopping £225,000! A massive 4,600% return on his initial investment.

Alistair Moncrieff, Managing Partner at Whisky Partners who purchased the cask from Roger, commented: “As whisky casks are classified as a wasting asset, due to the natural evaporation that occurs during their lifespan, all gains are free from tax, meaning investors like Roger can profit completely Tax-Free! The process is straightforward too; investors can simply select a cask from our stock, receive confirmation of sale, and sit back.”

Now £225,000 richer, Roger’s able to pay off his mortgage and foreshorten his retirement by three years. The funds have also given him the opportunity for some much-deserved leisure time. He plans to take his wife, Helen, to visit family in Florida, as well as a long list of fishing and golfing trips with his good friends.

Roger is so happy with his investment decision, he has decided to invest some of his windfall into two more casks for his two children, in the hopes that they will be able to enjoy some of the same fortune he did in the future!

We went back to ask the investor what he would say to anyone who is sceptical or unsure of cask whisky as a viable investment option.

“For me personally, when it comes to investing, it has to be a sensible strategy. I believe that if you just do what everyone else is doing, you’re never going to get a result like this. The fact that it’s tax-free; you can prove the indexes, and Scotch Whisky isn’t going out of fashion – I think it’s a good, alternative strategy.  That’s why I have invested in casks for each of my children, the cask of mum and dad if you like, as I hope in 10 years time they will receive a windfall to support buying a house or car.”

According to the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2020*, Rare Whisky was named the best-performing asset class of the past decade, achieving a staggering 564% growth increase. That’s an average annual rate of return of 56.4% on your initial investment!

Alistair Moncrieff added: “It has been incredible to help someone achieve early retirement and pay off their mortgage based on an investment they made some 27 years ago! There aren’t many investments in today’s world that you make thinking, worst case scenario we will throw one hell of a party! With interest rates historically low, we’ve seen a massive upturn this year in people buying casks. As Roger’s story highlights, we believe whisky should be treated as a serious contender against other commodities. We hope our new clients can achieve success like Rogers in the years to come.”

Roger commented: “The team at Whisky Partners have done absolutely everything they said they would throughout the process. There have been a lot of people who want to sell this whisky for me – it’s obviously very desirable – but they were the only ones who’ve been prepared to put the money up and offer a very straightforward set deal.”

Alistair Moncrieff continued: “We pride ourselves on ensuring the service we provide for all our investors is seamless. We are in a fortunate position, as a stockist, that we can purchase casks like Roger’s without having to act as middlemen. This means our clients can rest assured that when they purchase a cask from ourselves, they are purchasing from our stock and not from third parties. Likewise, for clients who wish to sell us their casks – we do not need to find a buyer before we purchase as a lot of the time, we purchase casks from clients for our own stock.

“When the time comes to sell the casks, it’s important to choose your buyer wisely. Whisky Partners is a reputable specialist whisky cask stockist, which for new investors, promises to take care of the entire investment journey from start to finish, and for existing investors like Roger, walks them through their complete sale process.”

Learn more about Whisky Cask ownership with our FREE Guide, contact our dedicated Portfolio Managers. Alternatively, you can see current stock levels and manage your portfolio by logging into the online portal by clicking here. Our portal is now also available on mobile with dedicated apps for both iOS and Android.