ProtectYourCask.com has launched officially this week, marking another small step in the protection of consumers looking at buying or investing in whisky casks.
The scotch whisky industry has historically been plagued with scams, and while many assume they are a thing of the past, in June 2022 Casey Alexander was arrested by the FBI for defrauding $13million selling scotch whisky casks in the USA. The legislation introduced by the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) in January 2024 marked the start of more official protection for consumers, but significant gaps in consumer awareness still remain.
This is why whisky writer and Keeper of the Quaich Felipe Schrieberg and Editor in Chief of The Whiskey Wash Mark Littler have launched ProtectYourCask.com. The new online resource is dedicated to providing clear and transparent information about purchasing and owning a cask of scotch whisky to minimize the risk of becoming a victim of fraud.
The guidance in the website centers around the information presented by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). ProtectYourCask.com provides a summary and link to the SWA guidance, alongside an easy to understand framework of the legislation governing the purchasing, sale and storage of casks.
ProjectYourCask.com is not affiliated with the SWA, who represent the majority of whisky producers in Scotland. The SWA already provides a comprehensive leaflet on whisky cask investment, however it is somewhat difficult to find, and their guidance has already been used misleadingly by unscrupulous cask investment companies.
The intention of Schrieberg and Littler when creating ProtectYourCask.com was to make the information both clear and easy to find for potential and existing investors looking to find out more about cask investment.
“We think it is important to protect the integrity of the scotch whisky industry,” Littler explains. “That includes both big industry players and smaller private investors who are passionate enough about the spirit we love to invest in a whole cask. Protecting that second group means making sure they are armed with the correct information to make an educated decision in an otherwise unregulated industry.”
Helping Investors Avoid The Mistakes Of The Past
For Schrieberg the promises of potential profits on whisky casks echo scams of the past and raise warning flags that potential investors should be aware of. “Every few decades, there’s been waves of new companies, many of them incompetent at best or perpetrating fraud at worst, promising fast and profitable returns on the purchase of Scotch whisky casks using aggressive sales tactics,” Schrieberg says. “We’re seeing more than a few such firms today using similar techniques to generate enthusiasm and sales as fraudsters from over 20, 50, and even 100 years ago. We think it’s important to fight the misleading claims that have been going around in order to protect the integrity of the scotch whisky industry.”
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To find out more about the project visit protectyourcask.com
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