Shortage of single malt scotch whisky is looming, causing prices to skyrocket

Sorry, single malt scotch fans, your whisky is getting harder to find.

Because demand for the booze is surging around the world, there is a lack of the beloved liquor currently available.

 

"The shortage of old and rare single malt ... has already started, and it's going to get worse,” Rickesh Kishnani told CNN Money.

Even with increased output, distilleries won’t be able to put more booze on the shelves for at least another decade because of the necessary aging process.

Sales of scotch in America nearly tripled between 2002 and 2015 and the whisky is growing in popularity in other parts of the world.

Asia currently accounts for about 20% of all scotch sales. spending $250 million in 2015, CNN said.

"In China, everybody is talking about it," said Stephen Notman of the Whisky Corporation, a whisky investment firm. "Nobody thought in a million years that there would be a market there for 30-, 40-year-old whisky."

So, even if you are able to find a single malt still on the shelves, prices will be going up — especially for rare whiskys.

In 2014, a large crystal decanter of Macallan “M” whisky sold for a stunning $628,205 at auction.