How Daniel Milne went from oil and gas to breaking world records with his online spirits auction platform Whisky Hammer

“We’ve been lucky enough to represent some true unicorns of the whisky world... and can’t wait to see which rare and collectable whiskies go under the hammer next.”

Daniel Milne is the managing director of Whisky Hammer, an online whisky auction platform that he launched with his brother Craig about eight years ago. The venture, which is based in Ellon in Aberdeenshire says it has since become a “destination for buyers and sellers of rare and collectible whisky”, with notable auctions to date including that of a 55-year-old Yamazaki that fetched £380,000, and a cask of Macallan that smashed a world record when it went under the hammer for the equivalent of more than £1 million, more than double the previous record at the time for a cask sold at auction.

Other milestones include in 2021 selling a stake to Rare Whisky Holdings, an investment group run out of Hong Kong, in a multi-million-pound deal.

Can you explain what Whisky Hammer does, and why you decided to launch it?

Whisky Hammer is an online auction platform, attracting buyers and sellers of whisky (and other fine spirits) from across the globe who take part in its monthly online auctions. Craig and I started the business on the back of a passion for learning more about old and rare whiskies, having been brought up on the edge of the Speyside whisky region – surrounded by distilleries!

The group has diversified over the years from in 2020 launching our ecommerce retail whisky business Still Spirit, in 2022 building our own state-of-the-art £1m private warehouse that can store and service more than 2,000 casks, and in 2023 launching our own independent whisky bottling, Halcyon Spirits. The latter is named after our grandfather’s fishing boat, which was called Halcyon BF.187.

Can you summarise your career before Whisky Hammer, and did you always want to ultimately run your own business?

I previously worked in a completely different field, having trained as a chartered accountant with EY in Aberdeen before securing a role in corporate finance in the oil and gas industry. I always enjoyed the planning/strategy and pure business economics aspects of these roles, rather than reporting on historical events. I guess that naturally led to the ambition to start my own business, importantly one centred around a product that I admire and have been passionate about since day one.

'We are honoured to be serving such a diverse global community,' says Daniel Milne. Picture: contributed.

If you could be given a dram of any whisky, which one would you go for, and where would you drink it?

This is always a tough question as I’m not normally limited to one! I would enjoy it in a cold, snowy Scotland beside the fire (it’s important to set the surroundings first!) and this would most likely be a slightly older dram distilled at Bunnahabhain or Springbank.

Whisky Hammer held its 100th whisky auction in March, and has notched up whisky sales of more than £60m – how significant are these milestones?

It’s all a bit surreal given my brother and I only decided to start the business (probably over a dram) in 2015. Our team has worked incredibly hard over the last eight years to reach these milestones, and seeing the numbers in black and white makes me very proud of what we have achieved.

From left: Whisky Hammer co-founders and brothers Craig and Daniel Milne, who were born and raised in Macduff. Picture: Richard Frew Photography & Film.

I think the global reach of the business, which is now more than 80 countries, is also a fantastic result for the team. We are honoured to be serving such a diverse global community and love to see our shipments arriving in some impressive post codes!

The firm achieved the world record for the highest value cask ever sold at auction. Can you give more details on the importance of this – but also its potential to see unscrupulous players falsely promise huge returns for whisky investors?

When we sold the world record-breaking million-pound cask back in April 2022 – a Macallan that had been forgotten for more than 30 years – we were thrilled to be involved in the process, and super-proud of the result achieved for the cask-seller. At the time we would never have envisaged this sale would be exploited in a manner that demonstrates all that is wrong with the cask investment space.

Everyone should be aware that this individual cask sale is an absolute unicorn, and most certainly not an example of what cask returns typically look like. I hope the most recent Advertising Standards Authority rulings – and also the great work being done by Blair Bowman and some other industry spokespeople – continue to reduce visibility of this type of misleading content and urge anyone considering buying a cask of whisky to take extra care and remain vigilant.

The firm in February said it had navigated a slower market with the effects of challenging global economic events, but was optimistic due to demand for rare, collectable and unique bottles of whisky remaining high. Can you give more details of challenges, but also your hopes for the next eight years?

Like many businesses, we have felt the impact of the global cost-of-living crisis, particularly amongst luxury goods and services. But despite this, I believe we can and should remain positive for the next eight years – and beyond! These challenges shouldn’t distract from the fact that the whisky industry produces such a unique and cherished product that remains in significant global demand. We’ve been lucky enough to represent some true unicorns of the whisky world in our monthly auctions so far – and can’t wait to see which rare and collectable whiskies go under the hammer next.