Buying a cask

[Ruby]

I hope this is the right place to post that. I am currently thinking of buying a cask. My boyfriend and I wanted to do that for quite a while but couldn't bring ourselves to spending that much money.

But now we've grown older, wiser (or not) and think that it might be a nice idea having a cask of our own waiting for us...

So I wanted to know, if you do know anything about the current cask offers. We would like to take a bourbon hogshead. But as far as I can see, only Bruichladdich spirit is on offer at the moment. Actually, I was hoping for Pt. Charlotte.

Any advice, tipps or information from you is highly appreciated.

Ruby

[Singlemalt-danny]

Ruby,

You can mail to : paula@bruichladdich.com

I hope you can get one.

Danny

[Gordon]

Danny ,
Paulas not a work at the moment .
Ruby ,
Appears there's only the Bruichladdich available in either a Bourbon Barrel or a Wine Hoggie .
The price is £150 more than when we bought one last summer .
They also had an offer of a PC Cask last year (only 100 ) but it was very expensive next to the Laddie Spirit , about £1800 a cask i think .
There have been a few maturing PC one's up for sale but they have been going for silly prices .
Edit- the cost was actually £1950 , the thread talking about it is viewtopic.php?f=2&t=544

[r900p]

Ruby,

I'm aware Mary from Bruichladdich was ringing a few people, myself inlcuded asking if i'd like a PC cask, i had until 12 the following day to decide i want one, this was Jan i think. I didn't bite becuase of the cost. It may be worth just giving her a call and checking, off the top of my head it was £1,850 but i could be way off either way. Numbers are 01496850221 or 01496850190, the later is the one i use most.

If you'd look away from Islay don't forgt Bladnoch, Tullibardine, Arran, and my flvour of the month Ben Nevis, tempted to get a proper Sherry Ben Nevis cask myself, but thinking i need to get a car that is a little more practical than the one i'm using at the moment, so haven't gone with it at the moment.

If you'd consider splitting a cask in anyway i'd be interested if it was different from Bruichladdich. But i do really like knowing my cask is waiting for me. Just when i run out of all the Bruichladdich i can handle the forums cask will kick in.

Good luck.

Rob

[Ruby]

Just one more question: I've read somewhere, that only every tenth cask is going to be really good - meaning only a 10% chance of getting some decent whisky....
Was that total rubbish or is there some truth to that?
Ruby

[Gordon]

I've read somewhere, that only every tenth cask is going to be really good - meaning only a 10% chance of getting some decent whisky....
Was that total rubbish or is there some truth to that?
Ruby

You can't put a figure on it Ruby , you can get Bad (though that can be a bit of a strong word to use...) casks , Casks that don't do anything for the whisky . Nowadays they are few and far between due to better cask management . Karls Cask at Bruichladdich was changed as it didn't develop as well as they thought .
It really is the luck of the draw as to whether you get a good cask , bad cask or excellent cask , must say i've been very lucky so far !

[Par]

Typically, I'd say that the few distilleries that actually do offer casks to private individuals would try to avoid getting rid of a rubbish cask that way. Just look at the Laddies, whom are actually exchanging casks that aren't progressing as expected - and from the number of casks I've purchased as new fills, not one seems to be disappointing, while at least three show stardom promise (one Port Charlotte, one Glengoyne and one that would surprise you all...).

A 1998 Springbank filled into a fresh ex Bourbon barrel was bottled last year and it has now passed some 30-40 whisky enthusiasts' lips - not one has been disappointed, many wanting to buy bottles. But I am keeping all of mine, which says a lot! (I owned a quarter of that cask)

The mature casks that I've bought have all been good to excellent - Gordon has tried what I deem the best one, a 23 yo Port Ellen, although that is followed hot on its heels by a 40 yo Glenfarclas with a nose to simply die for. And now I've got this very promising Caol Ila 26 yo coming up! By the way, have also done a 12 and a 16 yo Caol Ila and they've all been safe bets - seems as if Caol Ila and ex Bourbon casks cannot go wrong, unless the casks are shagged out, that is.

Mind, all the mature casks are purchased by myself, but I am not taking more than a small part of the resulting bottles. I have interested friends, so to speak. All of my very own casks, on the other hand, will be 1) all mine as of day one, 2) a lot cheaper per bottle (the 10 yo Spb came out at around GBP 18 per bottle all costs paid) and 3) are either more carefully placed in particular casks or carefully chosen spirits in fresh ex Bourbon barrels, which tend to be the safest bet although probably not the most exciting bet. I'm thinking I'll probably be ending up with half the bottles myself, having paid essentially nothing for them. They'll make good sipping and good gifts for some time...

So a safe bet is: pick a good spirit of a character you like and place it in a fresh ex Bourbon barrel. That will minimise any risk - although there will always be some risk.

/ Pär

[mr_fox]

Par
Good to read words from an expierienced cask buyer. I've only ever looked at it as a one-off special due to the costs involved and not having 'interested friends'!

carefully placed in particular casks or carefully chosen spirits in fresh ex Bourbon barrels,

Have you posted more info elsewhere, or if not can you explain what you mean by this? As far as I can see you don't get to choose cask or spirit other than at the general level of 'Bruichladdich' in 'Ex Bourbon' as advertised by the distilleries. Are you talking specific cask and specific still run?

Cheers and thanks for the new light on cask buying!

[Par]

Well,

I've already said it at the conclusion of the above post:

So a safe bet is: pick a good spirit of a character you like and place it in a fresh ex Bourbon barrel. That will minimise any risk - although there will always be some risk.

You will hardly get to pick distillate from one particular run, so forget that. It is almost as unlikely, I think, that you'll get the opportunity to pick one particular, individual, cask - unless maybe at Bruichladdich, if you are present yourself at filling time, in which case you could possibly get a choice between a number of ex Bourbon barrels (or the current offering of ex Rivesaltes French Oak Barriques).

While the ex Bourbon barrel ("fresh", filled the first time with malt whisky) is likely the safest bet for something that should turn out nice, an ex wine cask is probably a bit more of a gamble, as a fresh one can sometimes overpower the whisky and the balance between spirit and oak and previous fill (when wine) may never reach a good level. But with this greater risk would also come a greater potential of stardom. But that is my feeling - and I like a good ex wine cask matured whisky.

I've also written a book on whisky, "Enjoying Malt Whisky", now likely to be difficult to source otherwise than from myself (or try Royal Mile Whiskies or The Whisky Exchange - I know Loch Fyne Whiskies has sold out on the second edition).

Good luck on your cask venture - it is good and long lasting fun!

/ Pär

[Martin]

Can I just register an interest here? If anyone is thinking of buying a cask, and needs an extra partner for the venture I am very interested. I can't afford a whole cask (or even a significant percentage), but if there were a few people interested, or anyone would like a minority partner then I would love to be contacted about it.
Thanks
Martin

[Par]

Martin,

Get on Gordon's back about there being time for another SOI cask. Sounds like the type of idea you're after?

My casks still have some time to go and there's also the added difficulty that they will hardly be taken out of bond in the UK, as that is both rather expensive (thank's Mr Darling, you d*mw*t) and impractical for me when taking bottles home.

Cheers / Pär

[Martin]

Another SOI cask would be perfect... Gordon?? Any chance??

Problem is I realise that all these sorts of things are an absolute nightmare to organise (which is sort of why I would really like to piggy-back on someone else).

If Ruby and Mr. Fox are expressing some sort of interest in cask buying though, perhaps the time is ripe??

[Gordon]

Hi Martin ,
I won't be buying any more casks at least for this year , We (members of the forum ) did buy a Ex-Bourbon Barrel of Bruichladdich last summer , personally at the moment i won't be buying any more laddie for the foreseeable future and at the moment i'd rather put my money into other things given the number of casks i have shares in and the lack of other options .

[Vince_Port_Ellen]

I just received this year my bottles from a Springbank cask purchase.

We were in a large group, making that we had 3 casks (2 refill sherry + 1 refill burbon).

So my experience:
1) They suffered for the organisation, so stopped after 3 years of organising this.
2) People claim the whisky out of the year before mine was better quality.
3) I think the price I paid in this way for a 10y old cask strength Springbank, was excellent, but you do end up with quite some bottles!