Whisky · Explainer
Why has whisky become more expensive?
Three things are working through at the same time. The Dutch excise duty on spirits rose on 1 January 2024 from 16.86 to 18.27 euro per hectolitre per percent ABV. Maturation takes time and volume, because a cask loses about 2 percent per year. And today's demand has to be met from casks that were filled ten or twenty years ago.
In brief
The key figures
| Excise duty on spirits in the Netherlands | 18.27 euro per hectolitre per percent alcohol by volume |
|---|---|
| Previous rate | 16.86 euros, in force since 1 January 2014 |
| Increased per | 1 January 2024 |
| Legal basis | Wet op de accijns, section on other alcoholic products |
| Evaporation during maturation | about 2 percent per year |
| Minimum maturation of Scotch | three years |
| Casks in Scottish warehouses | about 22 million |
| Operating Scotch distilleries | 154 in May 2026 |
How much excise duty is there on a bottle of spirits?
Dutch excise duty on other alcoholic products is 18.27 euro per hectolitre per percent by volume of alcohol, a rate that went up on 1 January 2024.
For a 70 centilitre bottle at 40 percent that comes to just over five euros of excise duty, before VAT. The previous rate was 16.86 euro and had applied since 1 January 2014, so the increase was just over eight percent.
The basis is set out in the Excise Duty Act, in the section on other alcoholic products.
Why does maturation cost money?
For every year a cask lies in the warehouse, about 2 percent of the contents evaporates, and that loss never comes back.
After twelve years, well over twenty-one percent of the cask has therefore disappeared. On top of that come twelve years of storage, insurance, interest on the stock and the risk that a cask disappoints.
Scotch must legally mature for at least three years. Everything above that is a choice that costs space, time and patience.
Why are there fewer age statements on labels?
An age on the label must refer to the youngest whisky in the bottle, so the youngest cask in the composition determines what may be stated.
Anyone who wants to keep supplying a twelve-year-old must have filled enough casks twelve years ago. If demand grew faster than the fillings of back then, two options remain: supply fewer bottles, or bottle without an age statement.
In our own whisky section in Bathmen there are by now more bottlings without an age statement than with one. The legal minimum of three years continues to apply in full to Scotch.
How large is the stock of maturing whisky in Scotland?
About 22 million casks are maturing in Scottish warehouses, together good for some 12 billion bottles of 70 centilitres.
In May 2026 the Scotch Whisky Association counted one hundred and fifty-four working Scotch distilleries. In 2025, exports of Scotch were worth 5.36 billion pounds.
A cask filled today only reaches the market in years. New capacity therefore does not change the supply of old whisky for the time being.
Where can you check the price development yourself?
The CBS publishes a consumer price index per product group, which lets you follow the price development of drinks over several years.
The series with base year 2015 runs from 1996 up to and including 2025 and contains 338 product groups. Alongside the regular index it contains a derived index, which strips out the effect of taxes and subsidies.
Wie het effect van de accijnsverhoging wil zien, vergelijkt die twee reeksen met elkaar. Verkoop van alcohol is aan achttien jaar en ouder: NIX18.
From the shop in Bathmen
Which twelve-year-old whiskies are there in Bathmen?
The shop in Bathmen stocks 236 whiskies with twelve years on the label, from 125 different brands from 9 countries. Prices range from € 8.99 to € 339.99. The alcohol percentage ranges from 21.7% to 61.7%.
- Aberfeldy Whisky 12 Years Old 40% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Aberfeldy Whisky 12Y 40% · 20 cl · Scotland
- Aberlour 12 Years Old Non Chill-Filtered 48% · 70 cl · Scotland
- AD RATTRAY WILLIAMSON 12 Years Old 56.4% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Adelphi Laudale Batch#6 12 YO 46% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Adelphi Selection Blair Athol 2026 12Y 58.3% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Adelphi Selection Dailuaine 12 Years Old 2013 #302796 53.5% · 70 cl · Scotland
- AnCnoc 12 Years Old Highland Single Malt Whisky 40% · 100 cl · Scotland
- Ardmore 12 Years Old Portwood Finish Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 40% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Balblair 12 Years Old Single Malt Whisky 46% · 70 cl · Scotland
Related questions
Why does whisky mature in oak and not in other wood?Why does the same whisky taste different per batch?Why is one whisky at 40% and another at 60%?
Short answer
Short answers to related questions
- Do you pay excise duty on the bottle or on the alcohol?
- On the alcohol. The rate applies per hectolitre per volume percent, so a stronger bottle carries more excise duty.
- What does a bottling without an age statement mean?
- There is no age on the label. For Scotch the whisky is then still at least three years old, because that is the legal minimum.
- Is older whisky always more expensive?
- Not always, but years of storage and annual evaporation do feed through into what an old bottling costs.
- How many distilleries are there in Scotland?
- One hundred and fifty-four working Scotch distilleries in May 2026, according to the Scotch Whisky Association.
The reasoning
Sources
- Tarievenlijst accijns en verbruiksbelasting, Douane, Belastingdienst (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Wet op de accijns, wetten.overheid.nl (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Facts and Figures, Scotch Whisky Association (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Personal Investment in a Scotch Whisky Cask, Scotch Whisky Association (accessed 2026-09-07)
- The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, regulation 12, legislation.gov.uk (accessed 7 September 2026)
- Consumentenprijzen; prijsindex 2015 is 100, 1996 tot 2025, Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (accessed 2026-09-07)
This page was written and checked by ’t Bockje Bathmen, wine and spirits shop at Brink 2 in Bathmen. Last updated on 7 September 2026.
Verkoop van alcohol onder de 18 jaar is verboden. NIX18.