Additional Considerations
There are two final points which you need to take into consideration when you are looking at bottling your cask. The first is that you need several licences to sell alcohol in the UK:
- A personal licence
- A premise licence
- Membership of the Alcohol Wholesale Registration Scheme
Without these licences you are liable for a £20,000 fine and 6 months in prison as alcohol is a controlled substance.
The second thing you need to consider when you are thinking about bottling a cask, is that you most likely do not have a well-known brand to advertise and sell your bottles under.
This means that even for the highest quality casks, attractive bottles and successful application of the correct licences it can be difficult to sell your bottles to the public; as why would they choose to buy your un-proven bottle of whisky when they can go straight to the distillery and potentially buy something for the same, or less?
This means that for most private owners of casks the most cost effective way to exit is to sell the cask in bond. This is a simple and profitable way to exit a cask investment and if you have a cask that you are deciding how to sell, please do get in touch.
