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Do Whisky Investors Read the Bible? The Effect of Expert Ratings on the Vintage Single Malt Secondary Market

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2021

David Moroz Open the ORCID record for David Moroz [Opens in a new window]  and
Bruno Pecchioli Open the ORCID record for Bruno Pecchioli [Opens in a new window]
David Moroz*
Affiliation:
EM Normandie Business School, Métis Lab, 64 rue de Ranelagh, 75016Paris, France
Bruno Pecchioli
Affiliation:
Department of Finance, Audit, Accounting and Control, CEREFIGE – ICN ARTEM Business School, 86 rue du Sergent Blandan, 54003Nancy Cedex, France; e-mail: bruno.pecchioli@icn-artem.com.
*
e-mail: dmoroz@em-normandie.fr (corresponding author)
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Abstract

This article aims to estimate the effect of expert assessments on the prices for single malt Scotch whiskies on the investment market. Our results obtained using an original dataset combining data from Jim Murray's Whisky Bible and a web trading platform specializing in whisky investment show that the quality rating is not a powerful predictor of investor ask prices, especially when controlling for distillery and bottler reputation. This finding suggests that although the Murray score may embed information of use to unsophisticated investors, its effect on price can be outperformed by a detailed knowledge of the whisky industry. (JEL Classifications: L11, L15, Q13)

Keywords

experthedonic pricesreputationwhisky
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Wine Economics , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 86 - 101
Copyright
Copyright © American Association of Wine Economists, 2021

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Footnotes

We are indebted to Karl Storchmann (editor) and an anonymous reviewer for their useful and constructive comments that materially improved the article. We would also like to thank Olivier Gergaud, Florine Livat-Pécheux, and Renaud Lunardo for their helpful suggestions and comments on a first draft during a workshop organized at Kedge Business School (Bordeaux, France).

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