2005 Single Malt Whiskey Cask – Oloroso Dulce Solera Sherry Butt (Under Bond)

Distilled: At Cooley Distillery.

Aged in first fill bourbon barrel for 10 years before being transferred to a sweet oloroso sherry butt for the last 6 years. The barrel is 500 litres in size. Aprrox 75% full. 

Malted Barley is unpeated.

Tasting note from Al Higgin, tasted Dec 2021.

Colour: Bronze.

Aromas: roasted nuts, caramel toffees, milky coffee, burnished leather, creme caramel, dried apricots and candied orange peel.

Palate: Rich and mouth-filling. Flavours of roasted hazelnuts, pickled walnuts, Russian toffee, dark chocolate and dried fruits. 

Finish: Very long. Some earthiness and meaty flavours with cocoa, espresso coffee and beef jerky.

For interested cask buyers, we are selling 3cl samples of the cask which are €10. All money will go to the Kerry Parents & Friends Assoc charity where one of the staff's sisters receives support. These will be available from our shop or warehouse. Please email jack@celticwhiskeyauction.com for more info.

The cask is currently stored under bond at Stafford Bonded in Wexford under the Celtic Whiskey Cask program. The purchaser would have the following options,

1. Keep the cask at Stafford Bonded under the Celtic Whiskey bond account for further maturation. In this instance, the buyer would need to agree to the Terms & Conditions set out below. The yearly storage/insurance cost is €120 which includes a 20cl annual sample to track maturation.
2. Remove the cask from bond paying the excise/vat in full. Excise is €42.57 LPA and vat is 23%.
3. Transfer the cask from Staffords Bonded to an alternative Bonded warehouse. The buyer would be liable for the delivery charge and any associated costs.

 Things to consider when purchasing a cask.

1. Angels share – When this cask was distilled in 2005 it was reduced to 63% for casking. After this point, It is estimated that your cask will lose around 3-4% to the angels in the first year and around 2% per year after. The cask holds approx. 500 litres so at time of filling would have approx. 715 bottles at cask strength or 1126 bottles at 40% abv. After 10 years, you'd expect to lose around 35% to the angels share, so this would reduce down to approx. 464 bottles at cask strength or 638 bottles at 40%.
2. Bottling – There are a number of bottling companies in Ireland and we can pass on these details to you. Once bottled, you can either choose to either keep the bottled stock under bond paying yearly storage or remove from bond and paying the duty/vat. At todays duty rate of €42.57 per LPA you would pay €11.92 per bottle at 40% abv and €16.39 per bottle if at 55% abv. The 23% (todays rate) vat is added on cost of whiskey plus duty cost combined.
3. Why buy a cask – Buyers of casks are usually from 2 groups of people. Either buying for fun as an individual or as part of a group looking to follow the journey of the cask and then to decide on how long to mature or to change the maturation cask down the line. Or buying as an investment. The value of whiskey casks is related ultimately to supply & demand. Some companies are currently advertising that huge profits can be made but at Celtic Whiskey we'd like to reduce down these expectations. We would like to point out that the value can go up or down so like all investments you should take expert advice if you are buying for that reason. Just because a bottle sells on a retail shelf for say €100, that doesn't give it that value necessarily to a cask owner. The €100 includes 23% vat, a retailers margin, possibly a wholesalers margin, cost of bottling & dry goods, distribution cost, etc. Also, customers have to want to buy your particular product which is the reason similar-aged whiskeys can have widely differing sales prices.

If looking to sell on bottles of whiskey, please be aware you would need a wholesalers license if not in the trade.  

Celtic Whiskey Shop sells new make spirit from Great Northern Distillery. Please follow the link to get aged examples so you can see the full costs involved.  https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/whiskey-casks/