The psychology of the "Open Bottle"

Why whisky is reclaiming its soul.

Sometimes a decade can bring significant changes to the world and the global whisky industry is no different. What we've seen happen over the past nearly ten years, is a structural change from whisky being a "craft" product to it transforming into a high-stakes commodity. Many collectors proudly present their collection on shelves. Rows and rows of unopened bottles, brands on labels gleaming at you. Rare Japanese malt whiskies, unique Macallan expressions and distillery exclusives are all screaming to be opened and enjoyed. But no such luck... These bottles aren't bought to be enjoyed.. they were bought to be sold to the highest bidder at auction, in some (undetermined) future.

And yet, I am very happy to announce that a small and subtle change is afoot. Not because we stopped buying whisky for investments but because the psychology behind drinking is changing. The rise of the "Open Bottle" movement is upon us and the pendulum is swinging away from buying whisky as an asset and moving towards buying an experience, a pleasure. This is not a knee-jerk reaction to a cooling of the secondary whisky market. I would say that it is more likely the re-evaluation of what luxury truly means to us.

The era of the liquid asset

Between 2014 and 2022, the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index started to change our lives when it ranked rare whiskies as one of the top-performing assets. This may sound strange because not everyone likes whisky but think of it this way: having a 750 ml bottle in your house takes up a lot less space than, for example, a classic car. And it is certainly less expensice than buying gold. The financialisation of the whisky hobby (buying, drinking and enjoying), turned whisky enthusiasts into whisky "flippers" and eventually into whisky investors.

This movement caused a great deal of whisky to be bought by consumers merely to be put back onto the secondary market, unopened and for prices that made your eyes water. The problem was that, at the time, when you bought a bottle of Springbank or Rosebank, the price of your bottle practically tripled the moment you left the store. Opening that bottle and experiencing that "financial penalty" became such a psychological barrier that is was nearly insurmountable.

And we, the consumers as well as the industry, have fed into this. The introduction of ultra-premium products, bottles presented in diamond-encrusted bottles or so old, you have to wonder if it was really still palatable, was a true testament to the movement itself. These were the bottles that were more suited to a museum than your local kitchen cabinet. And so the whisky hobby gradually became a game of acquisition rather than one of appreciation.

The post-pandemic epiphany

As with so many things over the past few years, the main catalyst for this change has to have been the global pandemic. Being forced into isolation for months on end created a collective reckoning with the things we value most. When our world was in danger and our lives felt fragile, we may still have held on to that special bottle of Islay malt, in the hopes of a perfect moment.

As if rising from the ashes, younger drinkers, predominantly Millennials and the leading edge of Generation Z, emerged from the pandemic with a completely different set of personal priorities. McKinsey and Deloitte have repeatedly highlighted that younger generations place far greater value on experiences than on possessions. In the context of spirits such as whisky, this translates into the Open Bottle philosophy. The value of a whisky is no longer found in how much money it might fetch, but in the pleasure you derive from drinking it around the kitchen table, at festivals, or during tastings.

Where we once talked about FOMO, the fear of missing out, a different trend is now emerging: JOMO, the joy of missing out. Today's drinkers would rather open a €300 bottle of whisky with friends and create an unforgettable evening than leave it gathering dust on a shelf until it is worth €600, by which time nobody may even want to buy it. Whisky has started to reclaimed its primary function namely bringing people together and creating memorable experiences.

The death of the gatekeeper

Interestingly, this psychological shift has also been driven by a change in how whisky knowledge is shared. We are no longer looking at the "Old boys' club" of whisky, sometimes jokingly referred to as the "Wingback Wankers", characterised by older men sitting in leather armchairs, while smoking cigars. That image has largely been dismantled by our digital communities. Platforms such as Instagram, Discord and specialised forums have democratised whisky culture as a whole. It is no longer about feeling exclusive. Instead, it is about being part of something special, being part of a community.

The highest status is no longer assigned to the person with the biggest or most expensive collection. Instead, it belongs to the person who has tasted the greatest variety of whiskies and can describe them with specific, nuanced tasting notes.

Bottle kills, the act of finishing a bottle, are now celebrated online. People proudly post photographs of empty bottles, turned upside down, celebrating the fact that they truly enjoyed a remarkable whisky. Bottle shares, something I do with one of my friends, where we split the cost of a high-value bottle and enjoy it together on special occasions, have become a unique way of engaging with the hobby.

In effect, this transforms what was once a solitary investment into a collective experience and the psychological risk of opening the bottle is therefore greatly reduced, while the emotional reward is multiplied many times over.

The market is correcting, not crashing

Of course, we cannot ignore our current economic reality. Since the end of 2023 and into the beginning of 2024, the secondary whisky market has been going through what I would call a correction. It is certainly not crashing. However, after years of extraordinary growth, auction prices for many mid-range collectible whiskies have begun to slow. For the pure investor, this may be seen as a warning sign. For people like you and me, however, the drinkers, it is a fucking liberation.

We all know about the housing bubble and the dot-com bubble, but there is also something we might call the whisky bubble. As that bubble begins to deflate, whisky flippers are heading for the exit and leaving the market. That means more bottles become available for the people who actually want to drink and appreciate them.

There is another fascinating trend emerging. Many brands are beginning to pivot in their marketing strategies. Rather than relying on flashy, loud and obnoxiuos displays of luxury, they are embracing what insiders refer to as Quiet Luxury, my favourite kind of luxury...

Distilleries such as Bruichladdich and Thompson Bros. are leaning into transparency, highlighting their terroir and production methods. The way they have positioned their products suggests that the whisky is meant to be explored and understood, as opposed to being tossed back with a shot or sold at auction. And what I love best... even the larger brands are beginning to take notice. Psychologically, this is a subtle but powerful nudge towards prioritising experience over profit.

Mindfulness in the senses

Aside from all of this, there is also a deeper, almost philosophical dimension to opening a bottle. We all know how long it takes to create a whisky, and we should acknowledge that whisky is, above all else, a product of time. There is therefore a profound irony in spending 20 years maturing a spirit in an oak cask, only for it to spend another 20 years trapped inside a glass bottle or sitting untouched in your mother's drinks cabinet.

What is particularly interesting is that younger drinkers often approach spirits such as whisky with a sense of mindfulness. They are more interested the heritage grains, the yeast strains, the production methods and even the influence of the local climate than merely its alcohol content. The curiosity of today's whisky drinker is not satisfied by looking at a label. It's about engaging, the story behind the label and where the spirit came from.

For this new generation of whisky drinkers, opening a bottle is an act of community . In a world that has become increasingly digital and transactional, having a shared dram is one of the most authentic experiences left, because it is a rejection of what we could call the hustle culture.

The value of the empty bottle

What I find encouraging about all of this is that the shift from seeing whisky as a liquid asset to seeing it as a shared experience is, to me, a sign of a market that is maturing. While the high-end investment side of whisky will remain, I believe the heart of the industry is returning to the bottle itself.

After nearly a decade of volatile whisky prices, we are moving into an era where the prestige of a whisky collection is measured not by its total monetary value, but by the number of broken seals and the number of corks that have been pulled. To me, an open bottle is a sign of a life well lived. It is a sign of friendships being formed and nurtured. At the same time, it is a genuine expression of appreciation for the craftsmanship of whisky making.

As we look to the future, the psychology of the open bottle suggests that whisky's true value is not found in the price you paid or in its resale value. It is found in the tasting notes and the experiences. You will find it in the lingering peat smoke that stays after the first sip, or in the dried fruit which you can almost chew.

So the next time you find yourself standing in front of your shelf, looking at that special bottle you have been saving for years, remember that whisky is not a one-trick pony. It is a form of performance art, and the performance only begins when the cork is pulled. So don't leave your actors waiting in the wings forever.

Sources & Further Reading:

Deloitte. (2026). 2026 Gen Z and Millennial Survey. https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/issues/work/content/genzmillennialsurvey.html

Knight Frank. (2023). The Wealth Report 2023. https://www.knightfrank.com/research/reports/wealthreport 

Knight Frank. (2024). The Wealth Report 2024. https://www.knightfrank.com/research/reports/wealthreport 

Knight Frank. (2026, April 23). The evolution of indulgence: A new look at luxury spending. https://www.knightfrank.com/research/article/2026/4/evolution-indulgence-new-look-luxury-spending 

McKinsey & Company, & The Business of Fashion. (2021). State of Fashion: Watches and Jewellery. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion-watches-and-jewellery 

Financial Times. (2024). Rare whisky "bubble" bursts as sales tumble. https://www.ft.com/content/76f724a4-bad6-4462-8b29-69c0632b0a8a?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Whiskystats. (2023). Annual Report 2023. https://www.whiskystats.com/reports/