Whisky Casks

All casks sold by Farr Vintners are held in our own accounts at Scottish bonded warehouses.

A Delivery Order (DO) is essentially a change of ownership document which provides a written record to the warehouse as to the new ownership of a cask. Farr Vintners can provide a DO on the completed purchase of a cask providing the customer has a private storage account at the warehouse where the cask is stored or another storage account to which the cask can be physically transferred (though this can be a costly option).

However, in our experience, many warehouses in Scotland are reluctant to open private accounts because of the additional administration and legal responsibilities that follows as a result. Therefore, it is often the case that private cask ownership will still need to be channelled through a registered trading business like Farr Vintners as we already have the accounts at the bonded warehouses. In this scenario, the cask will continue to be stored in our bonded account and the ownership transferred internally on our system. We would not issue a delivery order in this instance as ownership at a warehouse level has not technically changed but we would act as custodian for the cask and professionally manage its storage and maturation on the customer’s behalf.

Each cask has a unique number and that number is attributed to your account here at Farr Vintners upon receipt of payment. This cask number also appears clearly on your invoice and guarantees that you have purchased this specific cask from us.

There is, of course, an inherent risk involved with the practice of having a cask stored with a registered trading business’ account rather than your own private one and that is that the company could experience financial difficulties, thereby putting your purchase at risk. Therefore, it is essential to buy your cask from a well-established company and crucially, one that is financially stable. Farr Vintners has been trading since 1978 and is one of the biggest wine and spirits merchants in the world. We’re proud to be an extremely financially stable business and we would be happy to provide copies of our audited accounts, upon request (or alternatively they can be found at Companies House (company number 1393302)).

Farr Vintners does not charge a management fee. If you decide to buy and sell an unbottled cask of whisky, the only money that you will pay will be your purchase price and an annual storage charge, payable in arrears (this amount includes insurance at replacement value). The storage charge is based on the size of the cask. As examples, a barrel or hogshead is £35 plus VAT and a sherry butt is £45 plus VAT.

The only exception to this is if you decide to draw a sample from the cask or have the cask re-gauged or have the cask re-racked. Specific quotes for these charges will have to be obtained in each instance. If you decide to bottle the cask, there will be bottling charges applicable as well as duty and VAT. Estimates of these fees are available at any time.

There is no official index for whisky prices and therefore all valuations are estimates. These estimates will be provided by Farr Vintners annually and will be based on our expertise, our knowledge of the market and that of our contacts within the industry.

Broadly speaking, there are three points of maturity for a cask. Early (holding the cask for 3-5 years), Middle (holding the cask for 5-10 years) and Late (holding the cask for 10+ years). Each cask can be bought and sold at any of these stages although the significant exit points are when the whisky is 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25 years old etc. We can provide our opinion as to the best option to suit your needs. Again, this is an opinion formed around our knowledge of the market and that of our industry contacts.

There are a number of options available when you decide to sell or bottle your cask. The most common is to sell the unbottled cask, either to another private owner, cask broker or an independent bottler. As a broker, Farr Vintners can list your cask as part of our inventory and pay you a commission once the cask has sold. Alternatively, in some instances, we may be able to make you a fair offer to buy the cask outright. There is also the potential option of putting the whole cask into an auction. Again, Farr Vintners can organise this on your behalf, for a fee. Another option is to bottle the whisky. There are bottling charges and taxes payable with this process (see below). If this option is chosen, we can help you at all steps of the bottling process.

If you decide to bottle and label the whisky, then you will have to pay additional charges. Farr Vintners can either organise this for you or put you in touch with our preferred bottler. Bottling and labelling is anywhere between £2 and £4 per bottle (this fee includes the glass bottle, the cork and foil as well as a label). If a bespoke label is being created, then it will need to be approved by the Scotch Whisky Association. The more elaborate the label and packaging, the higher the cost. If the bottles are to be delivered to a UK address, then duty of £32.79 per litre of alcohol is payable, along with VAT. If the bottles are to be exported outside of the UK, then no UK duty is payable, but taxes will be due in the destination country.

This is the name given to the evaporation of alcohol and water over time. This is an entirely natural occurrence, is part of the maturation process and cannot be controlled. It is why all measurements (alcohol percentage, litres of alcohol, bottle turn out etc.) are estimated from the outset. On account of this natural occurrence, it is highly unlikely that a cask will produce the estimated numbers.

Depending on the cask’s age and the type of wood used, we may advise you to have a sample drawn and assessed by an expert after a few years, just to check on the maturation process. There is a charge for this service, and that charge varies depending on the warehouse within which the cask is stored. An estimate can be provided at any time. Equally, when you come to sell the cask, it may need to be re-gauged.

There are many different types of cask used for whisky and the type of wood used has a huge impact on the flavour and style of the spirit. There are two main types of oak used for casks – European and American. European oak is harder to come by and therefore often commands a premium but often repays that premium when resold. American oak is used for most of the blended whisky in the market. Another consideration is what liquid has been in the cask before. For example, sherry casks give the whisky a richer, fuller flavour whereas Bourbon casks provide sweetness.

As a very general rule, younger whiskies tend to be stored in newer casks, as they can absorb the more aggressive nature of the wood more easily. Older whiskies are better kept in a refill cask, which has been used before, is therefore less aggressive and reduces the risk of the flavour of the spirit becoming too wood dominated. Common terms you will hear pertaining to the cask size will be Barrel (200 litres), Hogshead (250 litres) and Butt (500 litres).