James Gurney

Old Masters has long been yesterday’s story as contemporary art surged away from the dusty legacy market. But just as the interesting times that we live in have investors heading for gold in their droves, the value of certainty is a rising stock in the art market, a tendency on vivid display at TEFAF art fair at Maastricht in the Netherlands this spring. Certainty of long-term value, certainty of supply and of provenance are some of the qualities that are drawing collectors back to Old Master categories, but add better curation, services and the perception that prices reflect intrinsic worth more than hype and the smiles all round as TEFAF closed are easy to account for.

Away from the hard-luxury world of Lalique bottles (sorry, “decanters”) art labels, and rare-wood boxes, the whiskey world has evolved a niche that focuses on data and details and speaks more directly to a younger audience. Independent bottling favors discovery and knowledge over branding or partnerships, and typically these whiskeys are from casks that the distillers use to adjust larger batches – achieving consistency across large volumes doesn’t happen by accident. The casks will be the same age and have the same water and malt but will have been matured in different conditions.