Data and studies
Original studies of UK whisky prices, distilleries and ownership, built from the prices we record at UK retailers and our distillery records. Free to cite and download.
Prices
Shelf and delivered prices at the UK retailers we check, over time and between shops.
- +10% after inflation, for the standard malts still sold under their 2009 names, against the cheapest 2009 price 20 standard malts: 2009 prices against UK prices today
- £4.95 median delivery charge added to one bottle at the UK retailers we check, 14 October 2026 Delivered price against shelf price: the cost of buying one bottle
- 78 price index of bourbon-cask single malts, against 100 for a typical single malt of the same age Does cask type change the price of whisky?
- 18.5% widest gap between UK shops on one Japanese whisky: Nikka Days, £37.99 to £45.00 Japanese whisky price tracker
- £58 median price from 20 to 78 ppm, with no rise for heavier peating; above 80 ppm, only Octomore at £122 or more Peat level vs price: ppm against UK shelf prices
- £7,999 Macallan Private Eye, the dearest whisky in stock at the UK shops we check, 14 October 2026 The most expensive whiskies on sale in UK shops
- 9.6% median extra at the dearest UK retailer we check, on exactly the same bottle, 14 October 2026 UK whisky retailer price-gap league
- −1.0% the same bottles at the same UK shops, 28 September to 14 October 2026 UK whisky shelf-price index
- £71 or less buys half the whiskies in stock on the shelf (£75.99 delivered), 14 October 2026 What a whisky gift budget buys
- £45 a year added to the median shelf price from 18 to 25 years old, against about £10 a year from 12 to 18 What does each extra year of age cost?
- Whisky finder: if you like this, try
- 243 in-stock whiskies placed by smoke and cask from our tags; half of them (121) name no cask at all Whisky flavour map: smoke and cask
- −1.0% spirits to drink at home in the year to September 2026, while all prices rose 3.5% (ONS) Whisky prices vs inflation
Distilleries and ownership
Who owns which distillery, and how much they can make.
- 851m litres of pure alcohol a year from 153 Scotch distilleries with a stated capacity; the two biggest make 26% The scale of Scotch whisky: distillery capacity in 2026
- 59% of Scotland’s stated distilling capacity is owned by three companies; Diageo has 31 of 158 operating distilleries Who owns Scotch whisky? The distillery family tree
Maps and history
Where distilleries are and were, and which closed sites are still on the shelf.
- 152 Scotch distilleries operating in 2026, the most since 1912; the peak was 168 in 1899 How many Scotch distilleries were operating each year, 1740 to 2026
- 151 of the 325 Scotch distilleries in our records are active; 152 have closed and 22 are planned Scotch distillery map: active, closed, demolished and planned
Tax and deals
Duty, VAT and tariffs per bottle, and whether sale prices are real reductions.
- 8 weeks of recorded prices at the UK shops we check, set against each advertised deal Are Black Friday whisky deals real? 2026
- 64% of the price of a £20 bottle of whisky is duty and VAT, against about 26% of a £100 one How much of this bottle is tax? Whisky duty calculator
- 0% UK import tariff on American whiskey today; the last one, 25%, ended on 1 June 2022 Tariff watch: UK prices of bourbon and American whiskey
Datasets
Our own facts as free downloads.