Why are Single Malts So Expensive?

In the last couple of years, I have transitioned in my Journey with Booze where I have slowly stopped drinking Cocktails and Grain Whiskey and transitioned to Scotch and Single Malt Whiskeys the reason behind that is pretty primitive which is the fact that the Single Malt Whiskeys are now available at a Discount here in our State.
But thanks to drinking these Scotch and Single Malts I have noticed the vast difference between what I am currently having and what I used to have in past. But today I will be taking a dive into why Single Malts are so Expensive and the factors which lead to the Final Price of a Single Malt Bottle of Whiskey.

1. STORAGE COSTS

The Primary cost that includes almost all Single Malts is the years of time that they are stored in Barrels in completely monitored rooms which costs a whole lot of money including the Barrels which also cost a lot. At any given year any Manufacturer stores thousands of Barrels at once which amounts to a huge sum of Money that is pre-paid and it plays a key factor in the pricing of the Single Malt.

THE ANGELS SHARE

This is a term that I recently came to know about and it is basically the amount of Spirit that evaporates from the Barrells while it is being carefully stored for years and years. It is said that if you store 200 Litre of Barell for 10 years you may lose around 40 Litres of Whiskey in that time period and it is proportionate with the number of years it is being stored for.
Consequently, if the amount of Angel Share is higher the price definitely affects for the WHiskey for that year.

THE DEVILS CUT

Yeah, there is a Devil's Share as well which is basically the amount of Alcohol that the Barell absorbs over the time it is being stored in the Rooms. Even though the amount of Alcohol absorbed by the Barrels is pretty low it is still calculated so that the Manufacturers don't make a loss even if it's a slight amount, and all the cost obviously gets passed down to the Users.

TAXES

Obviously, when it comes to Alcohol there are a lot of Taxes that are imposed on them both State wise and Nation Wide which means Alcohol is taxed twice and it also varies from State to State basis. For example, my State West Bengal lowered the taxes on Foreign Single Malt Whiskeys which makes it pretty appetizing to us who love Single Malts.

So these are the hidden charges that actually make Single Malt Whiskeys more Expensive than Normal Grain Whiskeys. Plus there is also the matter of supply and demand which may vary from year to year and hence the fluctuation in price as well. But as for me, I am still collecting Single Malt Whiskeys almost every single month.