Putting a personal touch on whiskey

Ever fancied having your own unique whiskey, aged and bottled to your specification? Virtually every distillery has a cask ownership scheme, whereby you buy a raw spirit and they age it for you in oak casks. The legal minimum ageing period for whiskey is three years, but quality whiskey is usually 10 years old or more.

You may be offered a variety of casks such as oloroso, port or bourbon, and some distilleries will send you a small sample of your ageing whiskey each year to taste. You will also be charged for rent and insurance. Once you decide to bottle, you will be liable for duty, VAT, a charge for bottling and labelling, or you can sell the cask on. Celtic Whiskey offers a range of casks costing anything from just more than €1,000 upwards.

The Irish Whiskey Magazine website has a good article on the subject and a list of participating distilleries. Editor Serghios Florides says: “You need to be careful of outrageous claims and preferably go direct to the distillery, bypassing brokers. But it’s a great opportunity to support and get more involved with a distillery. You can share it with friends and family.”

Dingle Distillery is currently offering 100 casks of Descendants online. A cask will cost from €10,000 to €13,000 depending on size and finish, including insurance, storage and other fringe benefits.

The distillery’s managing director, Elliot Hughes, says: “This the first time Dingle is offering investors the option to purchase casks filled with single pot still whiskey. We have seen a keen interest from individuals, groups of friends and colleagues who are splitting the cost of a barrel. To date, almost half of the casks have been taken up.”