Fancy owning a whiskey cask? Northern Ireland distilleries launch new investment opportunities

Two multi-award-winning local distilleries are now offering whiskey lovers opportunities to invest in the golden spirit which has been enjoying a significant renaissance over the past decade that’s also included impressive growth in global exports.

Investment opportunities here follow the growth in whisky cask sales in Scotland over a longer period.

Leading the cask sales opportunities here are Echlinville Distillery in Kircubbin, Ireland’s

first grain to bottle producer, and McConnell’s Irish Whisky, a business founded in a

wing of the historic Crumlin Road Gaol. Both are rated among the world’s very best.

McConnell’s, headed by chief executive John Kelly, has created the 250 Guild as an

opportunity to own a piece of McConnell’s Irish Whisky, originally founded in 1776. The

guild marks the 250-year-old history of the unique distillery.

Echlinville’s Aird Cask Collective offers the opportunity to purchase a cask from a

unique single estate Irish whiskey. Potential investors can choose from three distinctive

and unique whiskeys – Echlinville Single Malt and Old Comber Pot Still or Old Comber

Heritage Mash Bill. Every drop, the company says, “is distilled in our state-of-the-art

stillhouse, from barley grown, harvested and malted on our distillery farm nearby”.

It continues: “Each step of the production process – from mashing and fermenting the

grains, to casking and maturing the spirit, to filling and labelling the bottles – is

completed at our distillery. The result is whiskey that is as unique in provenance as it is

in flavour and character.”

Echlinville has won international acclaim and a series of awards especially for its

Dunville’s premium single malts and blends. The distillery, owned by Belfast business

partners Shane Braniff and Jarlath Watson, revived the historic Dunville’s brand, once

one of Ireland’s most successful whiskeys especially in the US, and gained a host of

global awards for quality, taste and innovation. Dunville’s is branded as “The Spirit of

Belfast” and was first established in 1808.

McConnell’s recently enhanced its appeal with a series of major awards. Just 250 casks

of single malt whisky will be available in “a rare opportunity to be part of Belfast’s whisky

resurgence”. Investors can choose from a range of cask finishes. Cask purchasers

receive

 Eight years complimentary warehousing and insurance of the cask;.

 A yearly invitation for two people to a “Meet Your Cask” event at the warehousing

location;

 One complimentary bottle of McConnell’s Old Cromac Collection Distillery

Exclusive 20-Year-Old Single Malt Irish Whisky;

 A 250 Guild Card for McConnell’s Distillery and Visitor Experience providing:

o Annual complementary tour of the Visitor Experience for up to four people;

o – Discount of 15 percent on selected purchases at the retail space and bar

facilities

McConnell’s Irish Whisky continues its remarkable success story putting Belfast back on the

global whisky map, securing four more awards at the International Wine & Spirit

Competition (IWSC) and bringing its total number of international awards to 62 in just

five years.

The Belfast-born whisky brand received a gold award for its 20-year-old single malt,

alongside bronze awards for both its 5-year-old Signature Release and 5-year-old

Cognac Cask Finish.

The latest success follows a landmark year for the brand, which earlier secured multiple

awards at the Tokyo Whisky & Spirits Competition and saw its 20-year-old Single Malt

named Best Irish Whisky Single Cask at the World Whiskies Awards.

With recognition across some of the world's most respected spirits competitions,

including the International Wine & Spirit Competition, World Whiskies Awards, San

Francisco World Spirits Competition and Tokyo Whisky & Spirits Competition,

McConnell’s Irish Whisky continues to put Belfast back on the global whisky map.

McConnell’s was revived in 2020 and is now exported to more than 40 markets

worldwide.

John Kelly, chief executive of McConnell’s Irish Whisky, says: "To receive further

recognition from the International Wine & Spirit Competition is a fantastic achievement

and a testament to the quality, consistency and innovation of our whisky portfolio.”

Is a whiskey cask a good investment? Some industry experts say it can be but that it

can be high risk and caution is required. Researching the project is also essential.

Casks can, it is claimed, cost from £1,000 to £8,000.

To succeed – and to avoid scammers and fraudstars - investors should buy directly

from verified distilleries, like Echlinville and McConnell’s, or reputable independent

brokers.

As whiskey ages, the liquid matures, and its rarity generally increases, which drives up

its potential value. Genuine casks have historically offered average returns of 8–15

percent annually over a 5 to 10-year holding period, though this is by no means

guaranteed.

In the UK, whiskey is often classified by HMRC as a "wasting asset". This frequently

makes profits exempt from Capital Gains Tax (CGT).

Casks must also be stored in a licensed, bonded warehouse incurring storage,

insurance, and administrative fees that add up and eat into profit margins over time.

Images

JohnKelly: John Kelly is chief executive of McConnell’s Irish Whisky, a multi-

award-winner which is offer the Guild250 cask purchase scheme

Rare: Old of the award-wining single malts from Dunville’s Irish Whiskey

JarlathWatson: Jarlath Watson of Echlinville Distillery at Kircubbin, whjich has

just launched the Aird Cask Collective to enable whiskey lovers to invest in the

quality and award-winning innovation of Irish whiskeys like the historic Dunville’s