How to sell a whisky cask? Frequently asked questions

Talking about buying and investing in whisky casks is a popular topic at the moment. And rightly so, done correctly it can be an interesting opportunity. But, somewhat obviously, buying a whisky cask is only half the equation. Unless you're going to bottle your cask, then selling it is the important second half. So in this article we're going to look at five of the questions we're most often asked about selling whisky casks.

1: How long should I keep my whisky cask before selling?

There's no single answer to this. In theory, you can sell at any point. In practice, you'll likely want to keep your cask for a few years. How many years will depend on your individual circumstances, the age of the cask when you first bought it, and how the maturation process is going. Generally, five or more years would be a decent holding period.

2: Should I taste my whisky cask before selling?

You don't have to. But, it does always make sense to keep track of how the whisky is evolving in the cask. The key role of ageing the whisky in wood is, after all, to develop flavour. In tasting your whisky cask before you sell it, you'll know what the flavour profile is today, and how far it is on its maturation journey. Is it ready to bottle today? Does it need someone else to continue holding it? This will help inform your next steps.

3: Who can I sell my whisky cask to?

There are two main options. You could sell to another private individual. In most cases this would be done via a cask broker. You could sell into the industry. For example, Independent Bottlers and Blenders are always looking for great casks to bottle.

4: How much can I sell my whisky cask for?

This may well be the question you're most interested in. It's probably also the hardest question to answer from a general perspective. There are so many details (distillery, cask type, age, volume, ABV, flavour, etc) that will influence the value of the cask. The best thing to do would be to get some independent quotes for the cask value, from trusted sources.

5: How do I sell my whisky cask?

We help people buy and sell whisky casks every day. We're a cask broker, as well as an independent bottler. And we can help you sell your whisky cask. 

We can get the details of your cask and give you a quote on what it may be worth today. It's obligation free, so if you decide not to sell that's absolutely fine. At least you have a bit more information to play with.

And, if you do decide to sell, we can arrange this for you. We have a wide range of private and industry customers, whom we can reach out to about your cask. We may even buy and bottle it ourselves!