2 hogsheads at Speyside Distillers of Drumguish

[kiwisimmo]

Hi
I am going to the UK next week and have been asked to look into the condition and circumstances of two hogsheads that were bought in December 2000 by some acquaintances here. I guess that the fact that they aren't together any more has contributed to their lack of success in finding out. As far as I can see they have been keeping up with their payments.
If I manage to successfully locate the whisky, what are my alternatives?
Many thanks

[John Barleycorn]

I seem to get the impression that you're expecting some kind of problem. I don't think there is much you can do as you're not, I assume, the owner of the casks and even then I think you would only have three alternatives, to leave it where it is, or sell it either back to the distillery or another party, or pay the duty and get it bottled. If you contact the distillery owners they should be able to tell you where the casks are, as far as I am aware there are no storage facilities at the distillery and all the production is transported down to the Glasgow region.

[Ganga]

One other thought...I believe the cask owners need to authorize some of the aforementioned suggestions. And one other option is to have the owners authorize a cask draw and pay the applicable duty.

[kiwisimmo]

Thanks for the advice. The owners have sent a few emails to the distillery but never had a reply, hence my caution. I have a letter authorising me to act on their behalf.
How much longer will it need to mature, or is that only answered with a sampling?
And if I do get it bottled, in the region of how many bottles and how much duty?

[John Barleycorn]

Hope you don't mind me asking but were the casks bought direct from the distillery or from a broker? The reason for asking is that not many distilleries sell casks direct to the public but go via a broker who will often remove the casks to their own warehouse.

With regards to the whisky's maturity, will that's a very open question and is influenced by many factors but I would have thought that after 12 years your whisky should be ready for bottling. You may find the following web site helpful with answering your other queries http://www.whiskybroker.co.uk/index_files/home.htm regarding bottling, duty and VAT, plus if you're shipping the whisky out of the UK to a non EU country you will be able to claim the VAT back but I'm not sure about the duty, I think you may need to seek advice on that matter, but all these matters are academic until you've found your casks.