.png)
Logo by The Whisky Exchange
In 2010, Berry Brothers launched a wine trading platform called BBX. Following its footsteps, The Whisky Exchange Cabinet is an online marketplace dedicated to whisky and spirits collectors. This platform exclusively offers limited high-value whiskies released through the cabinet. Launched in mid-February 2024, it allows people to buy, hold, redeem, or sell these exclusive spirits.
The venture is one of the first new editions to The Whisky Exchange portfolio since Pernod Ricard took over in 2021, and the previous owners, Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh, exited their consultancy in 2023. Finally, the platform has launched a campaign for its first release.
How Does It Work?
The Cabinet provides an alternative to whisky auctions by offering high-end buyers the opportunity to purchase rare and collectable whiskies (also with cryptocurrency), which can be held in a secure warehouse by the seller in pristine condition until they are ready to sell or requested to be shipped to them. It works as a digital collector's keep, allowing customers to collect multiple rare whiskies without physically holding the bottle. Before purchasing, all buyers must provide proof of identity and the ownership of the bottle is recorded as a smart contract - a digital certificate of authenticity and ownership.
If the customer wants to redeem the purchased item and get it shipped, the Cabinet will no longer digitally record the bottle. Once the bottle has been shipped to the owner, they can sell it on other platforms.
The Cabinet provides a safe place to build your collection. However, only the items purchased through the Cabinet are eligible to be stored and traded. Unlike BBX, where wines can be shipped to the warehouse and stored. All the bottles offered through the Cabinet are brand new and exclusive to the platform.
In this article, we will keep our readers updated on the new releases on the Cabinet to keep track of what is being made available. Why? Because we like knowing what they come up with - in simpler terms, we're nosy.
The First Release - Available To Purchase 21.4.2024
Images by The Whisky Exchange
To launch the new platform, The Whisky Exchange has chosen a whisky from its owner, Pernod Ricard's stables. Limited to only 12 bottles, each with its individual assigned identity, The Twelve Elements by The Glenlivet celebrates the distillery's bicentennial and will be bottled in May 2024. The 50-year-old whisky is a marriage of two casks from 1974, chosen by the Chivas Brothers' cask master, Kevin Balmforth. The two married whiskies have been aged in a first-fill American oak barrel and a refill American oak hogshead.
The elements are 01 Air, 02 Angel Share, 03 Barley, 04 Cooper, 05 Copper, 06 Distillers, 07 Earth, 08 Fire, 09 Heritage, 10 Time, 11 Water and 12 Wood.
Each 70cl bottle comes with three 5cl preview sample bottles of the whisky drawn at 48, 49 and 50 years old. Each bottle is priced at £40,000 at the time of release.
The release accompanies The Glenlivet's range of 50-year-old whiskies released under the Winchester Collection from 2014 to 2018: a 1964 vintage released in 2014 from a single American hogshead with 100 bottles, a 1966 vintage in 2016 from a single sherry cask with 100 bottles and 1967 vintage in 2018 limited to 150 bottles. The Twelve Elements is the only 50-year-old release of individually labelled bottlings from The Glenlivet distillery.
Thank you for reading The Whisky Ardvark. Please be sure to return for updates on the series!
Comments