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BUYING A CASK
A plain, step-by-step guide to buying a whisky cask on The Whisky Index, written for anyone who hasn't done this before. Every step below is the real process, not a simplified version of it.
Every cask listing shows what's been recorded about it: the distillery, cask type, strength and volume, and where it's held. These details are provided by our supplier and haven't been independently checked unless we say so: see How records work for exactly what that means. The price you see is our real asking price.
Found one you want? Click Buy Now to purchase it at the listed asking price. There's no negotiation and no offer to make: the price you see is the price you pay, and it never changes after you click. The cask is reserved for you immediately and taken off the market while your purchase goes through.
Before you can pay, we need to confirm who you are and that you're old enough to buy alcohol under the law where you are (21 or over). This is a one-off check through Stripe, our identity verification provider, and takes a couple of minutes with a passport or driving licence.
Before paying, you'll confirm you've read and agree to the Cask Sale Agreement (the real terms this specific sale is made under) and sign, by typing your name, your consent to the transfer of your cask into your name. You then pay the full price in full, immediately, with nothing added at checkout: there's no later capture, no delay. This is also when our contract for the sale is formed, and we commit to securing your cask and registering you as its owner.
As soon as you've paid, we get to work: we tell our supplier which cask has sold so they can issue us the delivery order for it, and, with the consent you gave at checkout, we send the warehouse your registration details in parallel, so your account there can be set up alongside everything else. You'll see "Paid. We're arranging your cask's transfer now" in your account, with a live tracker and a named contact. If your original cask has sold elsewhere since it was last confirmed, you get a sister cask only if you chose to allow one at checkout: same distillery, same cask type, filled within 12 months, no less pure alcohol. It will never cost you more. If it costs less, we'll refund the difference within 14 days. If you didn't choose a sister cask, or there isn't a suitable one, you'll get a full refund within 14 days. If you cancel, we refund you within 14 days.
We issue our own delivery order for your cask, signed by you and by us, and submit it to the warehouse together with our supplier's own delivery order to us. The warehouse then updates its own records to show you as the owner — the step that actually matters: it's what turns your purchase into real, warehouse-recorded ownership, not just a database entry on our side, and it's the moment your ownership becomes legally complete. We aim to register your cask in your name within 5 working days of payment, or longer where a warehouse needs removal notice, which we'll show before you buy. If you cancel, we refund you within 14 days.
Once you're registered, we email you an ownership confirmation and your dashboard shows "It's yours, in your name at Castlelaw": the distillery, the cask reference, and the registration date, all in one place you can access any time.
Once you're registered, we move your cask to Castlelaw at our own cost and risk, in your name — skipped if it's already there. We're responsible for the cask while it's in transit: any loss or damage on the way is our loss, not yours. We set up your Castlelaw account in your own name, free of charge; we can't access it, and you're notified when your cask arrives.
Storage and insurance at Castlelaw are included for your first year. From your second year they cost £100 a year per cask. Your first year runs from the day your cask is registered in your name. We are not VAT registered. Casks are sold in bond, so no VAT or duty is due unless the whisky is removed from bond.
The cask stays at the bonded warehouse under your name; you don't take physical delivery of a whole cask. Whenever you choose, you can sell it privately, offer it to the trade, take it to auction, or have it bottled: see Selling your cask later for the real routes. We can't promise a buyer, a price, or a return: value can fall as well as rise, and we don't guarantee a buyer will be found.
This is a made-up example to show how the steps and numbers fit together. It isn't a real cask, and nothing in it should be searched for or relied on as a real listing.
Let's imagine a cask listed as Example Distillery, listing TWI-0000, ex-bourbon, currently around 61.2% ABV, held at a bonded warehouse in Speyside, listed at £4,200. These details are provided by our supplier and haven't been independently checked unless the record says so.
Priya finds it and clicks Buy Now at the listed £4,200. There's nothing to negotiate: we check the cask is still genuinely available, then it's reserved for her immediately.
Priya hasn't bought through The Whisky Index before, so she's prompted to verify her identity: a quick passport scan and a selfie, taking about two minutes. She ticks that she's read the Cask Sale Agreement, types her name to sign her consent to the transfer, and pays £4,200 in full through a secure checkout — charged immediately, nothing held back for later.
Her account shows "Paid. We're arranging your cask's transfer now", with a live tracker. Once the delivery order is issued to the warehouse, she sees "Your cask is secured." The warehouse in Speyside then confirms the cask has been formally registered into Priya's name. She gets an ownership confirmation email, and her dashboard now shows her ownership record: Example Distillery, listing TWI-0000, owned by Priya, registered on that date. Storage and insurance at Castlelaw are included for your first year. From your second year they cost £100 a year per cask.
Since her cask wasn't already at Castlelaw, we move it there at our own cost and risk, in her name — we're responsible for it until it arrives: any loss or damage on the way is our loss. Castlelaw then sets up her own direct account for her cask, so she can see and manage it directly. She doesn't collect the cask. It stays at the warehouse, maturing. Whenever she chooses, she can sell it privately, offer it to the trade, take it to auction, or have it bottled. What it'll actually be worth by then isn't something anyone can promise her.
