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A NON-DISTILLERS GUIDE TO WHISKY CASK MANAGEMENT
Start-up distilleries sometimes do not take enough time to look forward and plan when laying down their first whisky. If not planned carefully, when three years are up, and a spirit can be legally called a whisky, a distillery will either not have enough whisky ready or will not be able to continue to sell at the desired rate beyond the launch period. At its worst, the spirit might not be ready or taste vastly different than expected. This can impact future whisky availability and ability to scale up and ultimately how fast the distillery can grow.
I am not a distiller, but as Co-Founder and ex. Managing Director of a distillery I have been through a journey of discovery (sometimes traumatic). As the saying goes “control your destiny”, or else someone else will; therefore ensure, if you are a Founder/ MD, you are involved in the maturation and cask plan not just your distiller.
This paper is full of my learnings, things I would do differently and is essentially a guide for non-distillers on the main elements to consider. I hope it is helpful.