Getting started

You can start a WhiskyInvestDirect account and buy your own whisky in less than 10 minutes of your time. If you have any problems with starting your account you can telephone us on +44 (0)208-6000-135 within office hours [9am to 5:30pm (UK), Mon to Fri] or email us at

Open an account

You can open an account with a few simple details in just 2 minutes. You’ll receive a trial 1 LPA (Litre of Pure Alcohol) of whisky and a small amount of cash to let you try out our system. See them on your Balance.

It is a good idea to keep a record of your username. Also, we’ll email you confirmation of your username just after you open your account.

Fund your account

Fund your account by making a bank transfer to our Client bank account.

While the bank transfer is quick to initiate, you will need to wait for the funds to reach us. For UK users, depending on your bank, your funds may reach us and be applied on the same day.

Please be sure to include your WhiskyInvestDirect username as your payment reference to ensure that the funds can be assigned as quickly as possible to your WhiskyInvestDirect account. Once your funds have been applied we will send a confirmation email and you will see them in your account.

Buy and store whisky

You can buy whisky as soon as your funds have cleared and visible on your Balance under Cash. You can buy whisky on WhiskyInvestDirect’s markets directly from the Balance page (as well as through the Order Board).

• Select the line you want from the "Buy..." dropdown menu. [1]
  
  
  
  
• This will fill out the order panel on the right with the details of your selection. Click BUY/BID to proceed and then review and CONFIRM your order. [2]

Ordinarily you'll get the message “Your order has been fully matched” at the top of your order panel. If so, then congratulations - you have bought your whisky. You will get email confirmations of your deal soon after. Make sure you check them.

If the market is particularly volatile, you might see a different message. If the market has risen sharply so that there are no sellers at the price you specified, you may not get the whisky you asked for. This can happen when buying in an open market!

You may cancel your order and enter a new one. Or leave your order open, wait and see if the market moves again in your favour and your order finds a match.

You should check your Balance to make sure your cash and whisky balances are what you expect. After buying, there will be a bit of cash left over, which will help towards storage charges. (See our Tariff.)

Find out more about ways to buy whisky or view our step-by-step guide to the market order board (accessible from the "What is the order board?" link).

We assign new accounts a trial 1 LPA of whisky and a small amount of cash so that new users can try out buying and selling on WhiskyInvestDirect before funding, if they wish.

Validate your account

We need you to provide evidence of your identity and bank details by uploading digital photos or scans or of relevant documents. There are two reasons for this: one is legal, the other is practical.

• Legal: WhiskyInvestDirect is obliged by law to establish the identity of its customers.
• Practical: both WhiskyInvestDirect and you are much safer when we agree at the outset the repayment destination of your funds - for when you eventually sell your whisky and withdraw your money.

You don’t have to validate your account before you fund your account and buy your whisky but you should validate it within 2 weeks of funding your account.

Finally...

Once you’ve bought your whisky, you can:

• Check your balance and estimated valuation on your Balance.
• Check your past trading in the order history or on your statement.

Welcome to WhiskyInvestDirect!