Carrying-cost calculator
Find out what a barrel costs you to keep.
Rickhouses are fuller than they have ever been and bulk prices are down. Enter a lot below to see the yearly cost of keeping it, the price it would have to reach later to beat a sale now, and how both compare with what the barrels cost you. Barrel tax is only counted in states that charge it.
Annual cost of holding
$0
each year · $0 a barrel · $0 a month
$0 in cash costs (storage, insurance, tax)$0 in cost of capital at 8%
Total over the next 4 years
$0
Share of what the lot is worth now
0%
Run the numbers
If you sell now
$0
Net of commission and selling costs
If you hold 4 yr
$0
Expected price minus holding and selling costs
Price to break even
$0
What each barrel must fetch in 4 years to equal a sale today
Compared with your cost ($600 per barrel)
Sell today
$0
Hold 4 years
$0
Whole lot
$0
What makes up the cost
Yearly cost of one barrel, split by type
Evaporation over the same years
Liquid left in the barrel next to the running holding cost
Year by year
Figures are for one barrel except where marked
| Year | Age | Storage | Insurance | Barrel tax | Cost of capital | Total | Cumulative | Vol. left |
|---|
Where the default figures come from
Each starting figure is taken from a published source and you can change any of them. A figure tagged est is an estimate borrowed from a related market or filled in between known points, because reliable public numbers for US bulk bourbon are hard to find.
Barrel tax in Kentucky
The Kentucky Distillers' Association reports $75 million in barrel tax paid in 2025 on roughly $10 billion of assessed barrels, which works out to a combined rate near 0.75%. HB 5 winds the tax down under KRS 132.140: 96% of value is taxable in 2026 and none by 2043. A barrel younger than two years counts as goods in process and is charged the state rate alone, $0.05 on every $100.
Tennessee, Indiana and elsewhere
Aging whiskey barrels have been exempt from property tax in Tennessee since 2018 (Tenn. Code § 67-5-216(c)). We found no comparable tax in Indiana. As far as we can confirm, Kentucky is the one state that charges it.
Evaporation
The model loses 10% in the first year, 4% a year up to year nine and 3% a year after that. Those rates are credited to Harlen Wheatley, master distiller at Buffalo Trace, as reported by Columbus Bourbon, and they line up with James Beam Institute research. Floor level moves the rate about two points up or down (Kentucky Spirits Authority). The chart is for information only. A bulk barrel sells at its real age and fill level, so the loss is already in the price and the model does not subtract it a second time.
Storage and cost of capital
Large bonded warehouses charge somewhere between $24 and $60 a barrel each year. For cost of capital we start at 8%, close to the long-run return of a mixed stock and bond portfolio (around 8.8% since 1926 in Vanguard model portfolios). A pure stock index fund has returned closer to 10% (Investopedia). Enter your loan rate if the barrels are financed. Lenders are cautious right now: Bloomberg reported a steep fall in barrel collateral values in July 2026.
What a barrel is worth est
A newly filled barrel is priced around $450, not far above what it costs to make. The Wall Street Journal reported an asking price of $900 for a two-year lot early in 2025, and the bulk market has dropped about 40% since then. Prices at four, six and eight years are our own estimates between those points, so enter a real quote when you have one.
Your cost
Money already spent on a barrel cannot be recovered by waiting, so it plays no part in the hold or sell result. It does set your profit, which is why the model shows a gain or loss for each option once you enter it.
Selling costs est
The 10% to 15% commission range is taken from UK cask brokerage as described by Rare Whisky 101. Nobody publishes commission rates for US bulk bourbon. A re-gauge has to be done by the bonded warehouse itself. LYQD Exchange explains its certified measurement rules.
Use this calculator for planning. It is not legal, tax or investment advice. County tax rates in Kentucky differ, so check your own assessment with the county PVA office and with your accountant.