The global whiskey market was valued at over $61.9 billion in 2019 and is expected to hit $125 billion by 2032. Moreover, American growth in whiskey production and sales has significantly outpaced the world. Having reported only $4.2 billion in combined whiskey sales across all American producers in 2019, Kentucky alone generated over $9 billion in sales in 2023.

Insiders, elites, and financial firms have been participating in bulk cask whiskey investments since the 1800s.  Since then, the practice has maintained its popularity in the United Kingdom where small and medium-sized distilleries continue to thrive while consolidation domestically following prohibition limited the public's ability to access the opportunity. It is only recently, with the rise in foreign demand and proliferation of high-quality, independent and craft distilleries in the United States that outsiders are able to participate once again.

While this investment opportunity dates back to pre-prohibition times, many retail and even institutional investors may not be fully aware of how the American and global spirits industry operates and where the need for aged spirits comes into play. Libex has been a supplier of newly distilled spirits and aged spirits to craft and bulk distilleries along with some of your favorite brands. With the growth of global  demand for an aged American whiskey product, the American whiskey industry has been in a state of constant growth over that past decade and continues to expand as the need for aged American whiskey continues to grow.

At Libex, we perform a number of high end services for our clients. Aside from the acquisition of barrels of your favorite American whiskey products, Libex stores the barrels at Big Horn Whiskey Ranch, our bonded and insured warehouse in Buffalo, Wyoming. Libex also offers a wide variety of a-la-carte services to clients well beyond simply barreling, shipping, storing and selling you whiskey including among other things having your whiskey packaged, labeled, and distributed to you or third-parties in a wide variety of ways. Once your aged whiskey product is ready for resell and distribution, Libex will handle the negotiations and sale of your barrels to distilleries and brands if that is the route that our clients choose.

At Libex, we understand that our clients trust us as industry experts to advise them on the best product to purchase as well as handle all of the logistics when it comes to purchasing the barrels, transporting to the storage facility, storing and aging process, and ultimately either bottling the barrels for our clients or selling to other distilleries or brands that have a demand for an aged whiskey product.

Generally, Libex offers opportunities to purchase barrels in relation to what whiskey products are available at the time of purchase. Aside from barrels produced by our partnered distillery, Libex will also offer limited runs of specific whiskey products through partnered distilleries and brands.

It’s hard to say it’s never been better, but it might be the best time since the beginning of prohibition itself.  With the current state of the American and global whiskey market and their respective growth projections, now is by far the best time in recent history for someone looking to capitalize on the demand for aged whiskey barrels. Between the high barrier to entry to become a producer and the US exporting over 75% of domestic production, successful distilleries and craft whiskey brands are constantly in search of the barrel-aged whiskey they need to meet their current and projected demands–and will be for many years to come!

There are too many factors at play to have a 1-size-fits-all answer including the mash-bill, time of year, age of the barrel, market demand, and much more. The decision of when and how to sell, or exit, is ultimately up to you, your risk tolerance, income, age, portfolio diversification, overall liquidity, and desired return profile.  So while some people will hold a single barrel in excess of 10, 20, even 30+ years, most of our clients have a 2 to 6 year holding period with the majority exiting somewhere after the whiskey has aged 1 to 3 years to allow themselves to reinvest and diversify faster.

It all depends on you. Specifically, the when, what, and how, related to the final disposition of your barrels i.e. whether you package them for gifts, personal use, or even retail distribution, market and sell them into the bulk, aged, spirits market through us or directly, when you decide to sell them, and how long you aged them before deciding to sell. That being said, most of our clients see an appreciation of 10-20% in the market value of their barrels each year for the first few years with an even bigger jump in value once the whiskey has reached the 7 and 10 year-aged mark.

All barrels are stored in bond, which means in our licensed, bonded, and insured storage facility, the Bighorn Whiskey Ranch, located in Buffalo, Wyoming, in accordance with all local, state, and federal or TTB regulations, which provides your finished product with the highest level of marketability and therefor value.

Of course, in fact, we encourage you to do so since most of your barrels will be stored at our facility, the Bighorn Whiskey Ranch, located in Buffalo, Wyoming, where we offer tours and host regular events for clients as well as third-parties. That being said, if you participate in a limited run or purchase barrels made by a third-party distillery, then there is a chance that your barrels would be stored on site with that distillery in which case you’re still welcome to visit but it might now be as much fun as visiting us.

All of our clients directly own their barrels of whiskey. Clients are provided a purchase order agreement and serial numbers for all of the barrels that they purchase to be stored at our storage facility in Wyoming.

Aside from direct packaging and distribution or consumption, there are a number of exit strategies available for someone interested in investing in American whiskey. The most common and generally the most lucrative opportunities to exit or sell your barrels will occur around key anniversaries in the aging process. At those times, Small and medium-sized independent distilleries provided the highest returns, followed by Independent Bottlers domestically, and exportation into the international markets being the third-most lucrative option.  Prior to or in between key anniversaries, your highest returns will likely come from purchases made by other members seated on the Libation Exchange or even bulk grain distributors unless you intend on packaging and distributing your barrel into bottles for gifts or sale, which many of our members do.

If you need to sell your whiskey prior to it reaching a marketable maturation level, you can list it for sale on the Libation Exchange by contacting your account manager.

No, you do not need to be an expert to purchase a barrel of whiskey.  People with little to no experience do it all the time! One of the benefits to working with Libex is that you have access to a team of industry leading experts who understand the need and demand in the market for different whiskey classes and have your best interests at heart. Our team ensures that our clients are getting access to American whiskey products that are going to be in demand as the product is aged based on market trends and available industry data.

Although there are exceptions to the rule, bourbon–which is by far the most in demand–can only be aged in charred white oak barrels and is therefore the most popular for new make products.

Absolutely, Libex offers a wide variety of a-la-carte services to clients well beyond simply barreling, shipping, storing and selling you whiskey including among other things having your whiskey packaged, labeled, and distributed to you or third-parties in a wide variety of ways. Speak with your Account Manager to learn more about what options you have available for when and how your whiskey can be packaged and shipped.

If you cannot find the contact information for your account manager, reach out directly to help@libex.com with the email address that is listed on file with your account.

If, for whatever reason, you wish to work with a different account manager, reach out directly to help@libex.com to request a new account manager.