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Scotland-headquartered Whisky Hammer and
Still Spirit has secured a multi-million
pound investment from Hong Kong’s Rare
Whisky Holdings.
Online whisky auction site, Whisky
Hammer, and its sister retail business
Still Spirit, is poised for global
expansion after selling a 49% stake of
the Scottish family business to Rare
Whisky Holdings, a whisky investment
group managed out of Hong Kong.
The multi-million-pound deal will
deliver a 2.6X return to retail
investors on their original investment,
who participated in its crowdfunding
campaign just two years ago.
Whisky Hammer started in 2016 by
brothers Daniel and Craig Milne who are
originally from Macduff, near Speyside,
an area renowned for the production of
Scotch whisky.
The success of Whisky Hammer, and its
vast potential, has been recognised by
Rare Whisky Holdings, which is the same
management team behind the Platinum
Whisky Investment Fund, the first
private equity fund in the world to
focus on rare single-malt whiskies.
Platinum Whisky Investment Fund launched
in 2014, raised USD 12 million and is in
the final stage of its wind down,
exiting at over USD 24 million in 7
years.
Rare Whisky Holdings also owns the
Glenor Cask Company, which holds 1,000
casks of maturing single malt, blended,
and grain whiskies. The new investment
and partnership ensures registered
members of Whisky Hammer and Still
Spirit will receive exclusive access to
a range of cask opportunities for the
long-term.
Whisky Hammer hosts monthly auctions,
dedicated to whisky and other fine
spirits, allowing buyers and sellers
from every corner of the globe to
participate. It has auctioned a wide
range of whiskies, both bottles and
casks, with auctions selling in excess
of £1 million under the hammer each
month.
A recent feature included the
31-Year-Old Black Bowmore ‘DB5’
collaboration with Aston Martin,
distilled in 1964 and sold for a hammer
price of £81,000 in March 2021. The
customer base of Whisky Hammer features
an extensive global network of whisky
enthusiasts who buy and sell on the
platform, resulting in a 70% growth in
revenue in 2020.
Whisky Hammer re-located in 2019 to a
new, purpose-built facility in
Aberdeenshire, which is also home to
Still Spirit - a whisky shop, e-commerce
site and dram bar offering over 100 rare
whiskies to taste while overlooking the
beautiful Scottish countryside.
Daniel Milne, Managing Director of
Whisky Hammer and Still Spirit said:
"This is a very exciting time for our
business. The transaction signifies an
important bond with our new Asian
partner that will rapidly bring the
group to the next phase of growth, and
we are incredibly excited about what
lies ahead. In addition, we are
delighted to have generated a
substantial return for our crowdfunding
investors that helped us build the
business to where it is today."
Rickesh Kishnani, Co-Founder of Rare
Whisky Holdings commented: "Our
investment group is proud to join the
Milne family business and help with
their expansion to Asia, where the
demand for whisky continues to grow at a
rapid pace. We are also excited to use
this new partnership to provide Whisky
Hammer and Still Spirit members with
exclusive access to our collection of
aged casks."
Legal support was provided for the
transaction by Goodwin Proctor LLP
(acting on behalf of the buyer) and
Brodies LLP (acting on behalf of the
sellers).
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