Why whisky cask storage matters: Volpe & Castello is among our most trusted bond warehouse partners.

Whisky casks are valuable tangible assets, but you need to be reassured exactly where that asset is at any given point, and who is responsible for it. When it comes to whisky cask investment, understanding the importance of how your casks are stored is vital. In this regard, one of the most valuable services established brokers like London Cask Traders (LCT) offer is complete transparency and reliability.

As Oliver Court from LCT explains:

'We have close ties with all the bonded warehouses we work with, regularly arranging visits and tours for our clients to see their casks in person. It's important to monitor your cask throughout your investment journey, but there's also a certain pleasure involved in visiting a whisky cask you've invested in, drawing a sample from that cask and tasting it."

To store whisky casks in the UK, they must be kept in HMRC approved bonded warehouses which are highly secure with strict regulations to ensure compliance with duty and VAT laws. All these warehouses have advanced security features, CCTV, motion sensors, access controls, and highly restricted public access as standard. Additionally, casks must be kept in Scotland to be considered 'Scotch' whisky. It's important when investing in whisky casks, to know exactly which bonded warehouse they will be stored in. The majority of HMRC approved bonded warehouses are huge, commercial enterprises meaning visiting your cask in person can be difficult, unless you invest through an established route, like London Cask Traders.

Inside Volpe & Castello: a premier whisky cask warehouse

One of London Cask Traders' most trusted cask warehouses is Volpe & Castello. LCT has close ties with the warehouse (based in Glenrothes, Scotland, half an hour's drive outside Edinburgh), and regularly arranges tours for clients to visit their casks in situ. Volpe & Castello's director, Charles Costello, leads these tours, imparting his knowledge and experience, and providing insights on why the correct storage and management of whisky casks is such a vital part of the investment process.

"We've got over 80,000 sq ft of warehouse space here at Volpe & Castello, with a capacity of 30,000 casks," says Charles. "Our warehouses have a combination of racked, dunnage and palletised storage."

As Charles explains, 'dunnage' is the traditional style of cask storage using lengths of timber beams to form rails, with stone or gravel laid on the floor in between. Entering a traditional Scottish dunnage warehouse, it not only looks right but feels and smells the way whisky cask storage, with all its surrounding heritage, ought to. There's a quiet magic to walking past rows and rows of whisky casks, and Charles agrees.

"With traditional dunnage storage, the casks, normally larger butts or puncheons, are stored horizontally, usually two rows high," he says. "We also have additional modern steel racking, designed specifically to fit Volpe & Castello's warehouse, which maximises vertical storage while still making each individual cask accessible. The racking here has seven levels, and each 'stow' has space for up to 22 casks.'

Alongside cask storage, Volpe & Castello offer spirit transfer services (from large tankers which arrive on site), re-racks (cask to cask), and bottling for single casks (including labelling services). A typical tanker will store 30,000 litres of bulk whisky and fill up to 200 American standard barrels, while their bottling line is semi-automatic, capable of filling and labelling 400 bottles per hour.

The importance of whisky maturation

In terms of whisky storage, temperature, humidity and air circulation in the warehouse, all play a role in the aging process. As casks mature, they lose content (normally 1-2%, known as the 'Angel's share'), which in turn increases the air to spirit surface ratio. This process is called 'interactive maturation,' and subsequently, cask warehouses are normally maintained at an even temperature. According to Charles, this is one of the most important aspects of whisky cask storage: "In our warehouses, maturation takes place in a natural climate," confirms Charles, emphasising the benefits of local Scottish weather. "Temperature is not controlled in a traditional Scotch whisky warehouse."

Volpe & Castello's warehouses are run by a highly experienced team of six. These warehouse managers are specifically trained to monitor the movement of each cask. The condition, contents including ABV (alcohol by volume), and value of casks are checked regularly. The careful movement of wooden casks (which can weigh over a quarter tonne) using forklift trucks, means that casks can be moved from lorries into the warehouse, and onto the stows and dunnage, and it's a highly skilled job. Alongside this, Volpe & Castello are equipped with a full range of warehouse tools including bung pullers, bung hammers, a whisky thief (for removing samples - typically 100ml at a time), ABV (alcohol by volume) reader, and basic cask repair tools.

A wealth of experience and rare casks

"We've handled over 40 different types of casks in the warehouse here at Volpe & Castello, from [Japanese oak] Mizunara Hogsheads to Marsala Firkins, and Sherry Pipes," says Charles. "Our rarest cask is 52 years old, while four casks had their 50th anniversary last November."

Proper whisky cask storage isn’t just a matter of security - it’s about providing the ideal conditions for maturation, ensuring that your investment grows and matures as well. Trusting a partner like London Cask Traders, alongside Volpe & Castello's storage expertise and commitment to quality, can make all the difference in securing the future of your whisky investment.

If you would like to learn more about whisky cask storage, and experience a tour of Volpe & Castello or any of the other trusted bonded warehouses London Cask Trader's deal with, get in touch.